Drunken Kisses & Tender Betrayal
by DeadlyBeauty23
Summary: A very drunk Reno ends up kissing Elena. However, with a new threat to the world, She can't stop to over-analyze what isn't there.But sometimes...it is more than just a drunk kiss. RenoxElena
1. Drunken Kiss

A/N: Okay…. –deep breath- I'm not giving up on IchiRuki…I just need something refreshing to the eyes.

Some Reno/Elena! I can't say how fast I'll update this however; I'll try to keep it even with Apartment15B.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the ride. This story is set after everything, so just go with it. I make up my own timelines.

* * *

Elena could recall the exact details that had her in this situation. The Turks had gone to 7th Heaven for a round of drinks. Elena wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and maybe get some paperwork done. Reno wanted to go drinking. Rude…well he didn't voice his opinion but Elena assumed he wouldn't mind seeing the brunette barmaid.

"You're such a light…weight…" Reno slurred shaking the bottle in her face. "C'mon! Drink! It's the good stuff!"

"Shut up, Reno. I'm not having another drink." Elena said, sitting up properly in her chair while Reno was half-sprawled on the table.

"You afraid? Reno asked with a smirk and that mocking look in his aqua eyes.

"No." Elena rolled her eyes and decided that maybe if she ignored Reno, he would give up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You can get drunk and have your way with me 'Laney! Doesn't that sound tempting?"

Elena's nose scrunched up in response, '_more like disgusting!' _she thought angrily. She forcefully pushed her chair away from the table. The harsh screeching noise made Tifa look up from the glasses she was cleaning. Elena was heading for the bathroom, she heard another chair move, and then felt a hand on her shoulder.

Her body was spun around and pressed against the wall. She gasped, looking up to see Reno, smirking.

"Reno!? What the hell is your—"

Reno grabbed a fist full of her short blonde hair, the strands slipping between his fingers; tilting her head back. Before Elena could react, Reno had his burning lips on hers. She felt her knees go weak. Then her mind remembered that this _was_ Reno. _A very drunk Reno_. Her body went rigid before her knee shot up and collided with his crotch. Reno jolted back, letting out a few choice words before he fell onto his ass.

"Damnit Laney!"

"Drunken Idiot!" She sputtered back, her face bright red with a mixture of rage and embarrassment.

She stormed into the back room of Tifa's bar. Her heart was pounding and the heat rushed to her ears. _'Relax Elena...it was just a stupid...drunk kiss. It meant nothing!'_ She could hear Reno's voice as he casually flirted with Tifa. Who, in return, told him he wasn't getting anymore drinks tonight. Her eyes blinked away the small moisture gathering in her lower eyelids. It was so damn embarrassing! How dare he just grab her like that!

Elena smoothed her hair with her hands; she could still feel the bastards' fingers against her scalp. His other hand firmly on her backside, she heard footsteps and turned around to see Rude.

"......"

"We're leaving?" She guessed. Elena hadn't figured out Rude's 'language' quite yet. The bald man nodded in response before leaving the blonde rookie alone. Elena gave herself another 30 seconds to make sure her heart stopped racing. During that time, she also thought of a few choice words if Reno brought anything up.

She walked out of the back room with her head held high. Reno was on the floor again. She couldn't help but feel a smug sense of satisfaction. He looked better on the floor anyway. Rude helped his partner to his feet and the duo stumbled out of the door.

"See you next weekend?" Tifa asked, the smile in her voice, her back turned to Elena.

"Probably." the blonde replied stiffly.

&3&3&3&3&3

Rude gave Elena a ride home, with Reno in the backseat. Her silent companion didn't say anything until he parked the car in front of her apartment.

"….Have a nice evening"

"You too."

Elena slammed the door shut and walked up the steps. The autumn air was brisk and it bit her nose. There weren't many trees in Midgar, so Elena never saw leaves changing or any of that. She had to rely on her senses to tell her what season it was.

She stepped into her apartment, seeing that it was neat and orderly, just as she left it. Her door made a soft 'click' and the sound echoed through her 'home'.

Elena turned on the hot water for her shower. The steam fogged up her small bathroom. As she stepped into the scalding water, she suddenly thought of Reno. Her hand unconsciously moved and touched her lower lip. Elena shook her head fiercely, sending water droplets into her shower curtain.

"He won't even remember it tomorrow." Elena said aloud.

She hummed to herself as she washed her hair, getting rid of the cigarette-smell. The citrus scent of her shampoo filled her nose and she decided to reflect on the events that happened earlier today. Her mission was a success and she did it all on her own. It was something to be proud of. She was still known as 'The Rookie'.

&3&3&3&3&3

"_Do you understand the mission?"_

"_Yes, sir" Elena said with a determined nod. _

"_You must be careful. This is a mission for information, not bloodshed."_

"_Understood." Tseng smiled a bit and then dismissed her. She checked the coordinates on her phone before taking off. They had a civilian vehicle waiting for her in the ShinRa garage. _

_ShinRa didn't know who was after them. Their only information that another group was on the rise and AVALANCHE was no longer a suspect. Cloud had left the city, leaving Tifa behind with Marlene and Denzel. Barrett came into the city every week to see Marlene. Vincent had fallen off the face of the earth (or at least Elena thought so.) Yuffie had returned to Wutai. _

_Sometimes Elena saw the young ninja when she came to see Reeve. The WRO was still working hard to rebuild the earth and reconstruct what once was. Then…there were the Turks. They had their hands full now with this 'unknown threat'. _

_Elena fumbled with her hands as she sat in the backseat. Without Reno's annoying complaints and Rude's soft grunts of either approval or disdain…it was deathly quiet. Elena almost asked the driver to turn on the radio but that would be unprofessional. _

_Elena peered out the window as the car slowed down._

"_Please call when you are ready to be picked up." The driver said and Elena felt like some sort of princess. However, this was far from a fairy-tale._

_She stepped out, staring at the building as it crumbled before her eyes. Homeless people were scattered about the area, huddling by fires, staring at Elena with contempt in their eyes. She was a Turk. She had grown to expect these stares._

"_What business do you have here?" A male who was previously crouched stood up. He was much taller than Elena. His skin was pale, with smudges of soot and dirt, but his eyes were strikingly bright. Despite their gray color. Elena couldn't tell if he was muscular, all his layers of clothes gave him a bulky—yet intimidating appearance. His hair was hidden by a black beanie. _

"_I'm searching for someone." She said keeping her tone even yet friendly. _

"_Who?" The male prompted, crossing his arms and chewing on the toothpick in his mouth. Elena had a random thought of Cid, she figured he was off and married—maybe with kids now. It was weird that she was reminiscing so much today._

"_I…I don't know his name." Elena ran a hand through her hair. "All I have is this." She produced a small photo of a young boy. It was their only lead. This boy had left a package on the front step of ShinRa, addressed to Rufus, when it went through clearance—ShinRa had upped its Security—it held a bomb. The bomb was wired improperly, so it was useless and probably wouldn't have gone off. However, it was enough to raise concern._

_More packages came in but they were never delivered personally again. Always from fake addresses. Then notes began to appear with the boxes. Those notes held cold words of hatred for ShinRa and everything it stood for. _

"_Sorry, can't help you."He was lying. Elena could see it on his face._

"_Please!" She tucked the photo in her pocket with tender care. A lie of her own formed in her mind._

"_I have a sister…when she was young…she had a baby." Elena wished she could summon tears, but the best she could do was plastering a frown on her face._

"_She couldn't keep… so she had to give him up…Hell, she didn't even give him a name! When we found this picture..." Elena let the story flow effortlessly from her lips. She explained how her sister only wanted to see her child again, to atone for the sin of leaving him. She went into details about how her sister was so positive that this picture was of her son, that she threatened to lock Elena out of their house until she learned something._

_The male was moved by her story; at least Elena thought he was._

"_The kid might be Allen. He used to hang around here a lot. 'Till some guys starting talking to him and then he disappeared."_

"_T-thank you…" Elena whispered and turned her back on the male. She placed her hand on her mouth, to take in sharp breath. As if, she was holding back tears. She had to admit; she was quite the actress when she had to be._

&3&3&&3&3

Elena ran her comb through her wet hair. Minus the drunken kiss, today had gone well. It would be back to paperwork tomorrow unless a mission came up. She couldn't get the kiss out of her head though. When she set her coffee machine so she'd have a fresh cup for the morning, she just _had_ to grab the red thermos. Her mind linked the color with Reno's red hair.

"His hair is obnoxious." Elena was thinking aloud, she knew it, but she lived alone—and as pathetic as it sounded; she could talk to herself if she damn well pleased!

"Reno is…the definition of annoying! And vulgar, crude, he's a womanizer, a drunk, and callous about the emotions of others around him." Elena's grip on the counter suddenly tightened.

"He's an idiot…but I should have reacted faster…"

"Then again, I probably gave him a nice bruise." Elena mused, her spirits lifting slightly.

Elena had just settled into her navy blue sheets when her cell phone began to ring. The soft green glow of the front screen lit up her room as if the life stream itself had entered through her window. Elena reached over and clumsily picked it up.

"Hello?"

"_Yay! You're awake!"_

"Go to hell, Reno. It's almost one in the morning—can't I get a good night's rest for once?" She could practically smell the alcohol through the receiver.

"_Don't be mean, Laney." He stretched out on his couch. He quirked a brow when she didn't respond._

"_Laney?"_

"It's Elena."

"_I thought you hung up on me…"_

"Why didn't I think of that? Goodnight, Reno!" Elena snapped her phone shut with a grin. Aha! Take that you cocky red-head! She set her phone to vibrate and set it back down on her nightstand. Rolling over, Elena buried her face into her pillow, her hair leaving a damp spot.

'_Bzzzz….bzzzz….bzzzz.'_

She closed her eyes tightly while waiting for the noise to stop.

'_Bzzzz….bzzzzz….bzzzzz!'_

Elena groaned and pulled the covers over her head, "Pass out already!" She ground her teeth and began counting to one-hundred in hopes that it would numb her mind into sleep.

It worked. The annoying buzzing sound from her phone eventually faded with her inner voice counting. She got to three-hundred and twenty-six before she couldn't keep counting and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

&3&3&3&3&3

Reno mumbled a greeting to Rude and Tseng when he walked into the office that morning. His head was killing him.

"Where's Laney?" He asked, kicking his legs up onto his desk that was littered with papers and junk-food wrappers.

"She was here earlier." The raven-haired male responded without looking up.

"That didn't answer my question, yo."

Tseng sighed heavily.

"Get to work, Reno."

The red-head frowned. Tseng never withheld information from him—when he did, it was for a damn-good reason. The only theories that Reno could come up with while sitting there…Elena was hurt, off on a mission—alone, getting coffee, and maybe she just went to the little girl's room.

&3&3&3&3

Elena returned to her shared office, to find that Reno was the only one still inside.

"Where's Rude and Tseng?"

"Am I not enough for you?" Reno asked with a smirk.

Elena didn't dignify him with a response; she sat back down on her desk and took out a folder, browsing its contents.

"Where'd you go this morning?"

"Hm?" Elena looked up, rather dazed.

"You've been missing for two hours."

"I haven't been missing Reno, I just wasn't _here_."

"Well…where were you?"

"…"

"Laney."

"…"

"LANEY!" His eyebrow twitched as she so bluntly ignored him.

He huffed, "Elena."

"Yes?"

"Why won't you tell me?"

"God, if you must know…I went down to floor 66 to brush up on my hand-to-hand combat."

"Oh?" Reno was suddenly interested and this was a perfect opportunity to tease the rookie. "Was it because of last night?" He gave her a smirk while watching her reaction.

Elena felt her blood run cold and the pen she was using fell flat against the paper, leaving a smudge of black in on the pristine white paper. She just sat there, frozen. _'Oh god! Say something! Be witty or rude or sarcastic…just…say…SOMETHING!' _

* * *

A/N: I had SO much fun writing this.

I needed it. It got my creative juices flowing again and my muse seems to have returned for the time being. I guess she likes Reno/Elena too.

I'm feeling a little better about the next chapter to Apartment15B and lord only knows what I'll be doing with "Speeding Cars." –Shakes head-

Please send me a review; thoughts/comments/fan girl squeals are all appreciated! Have an awesome weekend!


	2. Tender' Apology

A/N: School draws closer and therefore, my updates will suffer.

Time for Chapter two, hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_Previously…_

"Oh?" Reno was suddenly interested and this was a perfect opportunity to tease the rookie. "Was it because of last night?" He gave her a smirk while watching her reaction.

Elena felt her blood run cold and the pen she was using fell flat against the paper, leaving a smudge of black in on the pristine white paper. She just sat there, frozen. _'Oh god! Say something! Be witty or rude or sarcastic…just…say…SOMETHING!' _

_&3&3&3_

"No." She finally said after a few tense moments. "I've been given a mission that requires no guns…I want to make sure I can defend myself."

"So it had nothing to do with me planting a wet one on you?"

Elena felt her face turn bright red and she quickly stood up to file some folders away in the steel cabinet they had. It was a chance to turn her face away from Reno—who was grinning.

"Nope…" She kept her back turned.

Reno groaned in annoyance. He hoped to his feet and towered over Elena when she turned around. He suddenly had her cornered, yet again. He just loved seeing those deep brown eyes so full of contempt. To see his reflection in her dark irises was an adrenalin rush.

"You liked it!" He accused and Elena shoved him but Reno barely moved.

"C'mon...admit it 'Laney. I'm the man of your wet dreams."

"F-ck you, Reno."

"Lovely choice of words." He smirked. She hated it when he was right. She hadn't stopped thinking about the kiss after it happened. Reno licked his lips and Elena could see that gleam in his bright blue eyes. She went to smack him but he caught her hand. He grabbed her other hand too, pressing them both against the wall.

Now she was really trapped. Reno leaned down and her eyes went wide—if they could get any bigger. He passed her lips. She could scream! That's what people did when they were in trouble. Maybe Reno would back off. Elena took in a big breath, the second she was about to let loose a cry, Reno's lips were on her neck. Her scream melted and just came out as a breath of hot air.

"R-R-Reno! Get the hell off!" She squirmed, wondering if she could get an angle to kick him in the groin again.

"Mm... Laney, you taste like...oranges," he said finally moving his lips away. He left a wet spot on the pale skin of her neck. She was shuddering. Her cheeks bright red. What more did he want from her? He released his grip on her hands. Elena quickly hid her face; she could feel the hot tears of embarrassment pricking at the back of her eyes. She wanted to kill him.

"I hate you." She said quietly.

"You know you love me." He responded going back to his desk.

Elena furiously wiped the skin on her neck with her sleeve, leaving a bright red spot there. She couldn't stand being in the same room as him. This was the final straw. She pulled open their office door and slammed it upon her retreat.

&3&3&3&3

She stepped into Tseng's office. He looked up and just nodded at Elena's presence.

"Sir, I can't stay with Reno and Rude." Elena spoke as clearly as she could. The raven haired man frowned a little and motioned for her to take a seat in front of his desk.

"Why not? You all became so close…"

"Reno…he…" Elena watched her hands in her lap. She felt like some school girl, telling on the bully. "I just can't handle him."

"Hm." Tseng nodded a little "Understood, Elena. However, I can't just place you in another group…"

"I know, sir."

"Is that all you wish to tell me?"

"Yes." Elena looked up to meet his eyes. She always thought their Wutai leader was handsome. He was brave too. Smart. Cared about the Turks.

"I will speak to Reno." Tseng said before returning to his work. "You are dismissed."

'_I feel like some spoiled little brat. But what Reno did…that was like…borderline sexual harassment! No! It was sexual harassment! He's so rude and loud…he's a good Turk though. But that is beside the point. I never fit in with Reno and Rude. I was just the rookie…' _

&3&3&3&3

Elena returned to find that the office was empty. The silence was heaven. She sat down at her desk, typing away—filling out injury reports. 'Busywork' as Reno would call it.

Speaking of the redhead, he was outside—on the roof to be exact. Having a smoke break with Rude standing nearby.

"Tseng wants to speak with you…" Rude said, a man who rarely speaks but when he does, it's always important.

"Why?"

"You upset Elena…"

Reno laughed, throwing his head back as he did. "I was just playing around!"

Rude didn't say anything and Reno shrugged, taking another drag from his cigarette. He threw the cancer stick on the ground and snuffed it out with the heel of his boot. "Alright, I'm goin'." He gave a lazy wave to Rude before walking back inside with his hands in his pockets.

&3&3&3&

"Yo boss." Reno greeted, plopping down in the chair and stretching his legs out.

"Reno. Did you know that Elena came by to request removal from the team?"

Reno felt his grin falter; he scratched his head and avoided eye contact with Tseng. When Tseng didn't get a response, he figured that was a no.

"Whatever you did Reno, fix it." Tseng gave his fellow Turk a stern look. "I don't want to break the three of you up after everything you went through just because of something stupid."

Reno gave a mock two-finger salute. "Aye, aye." He got to his feet and turned to leave. He half-expected Tseng to say something but the office remained silent. Reno left and was greeted by the empty halls of ShinRa.

When he returned to their office, Elena was sitting at her desk, typing away. Reno felt a sly grin form on his face. He slowly walked up behind her. He brought his hands up over his head, "Hi Laney!" He yelled before bringing his hands down, past her shoulders and onto her keyboard.

Her document now had a whole page worth of gibberish.

"Damnit Reno!" She jabbed her elbow into his chest.

"Ow, that hurt, 'Lena."

"I don't care." She responded while deleting the mess Reno had made. She was lucky he didn't shut off the computer or crash the document. Reno shifted his weight and stood by her desk, wondering if he should just apologize or wait…Reno of the Turks doesn't just apologize.

"How's your hand-to-hand, rookie?"

"It's getting better why? I told you I went training this morning…" Elena made sure to save the document at least six times.

"Yeah, yeah…" Reno sounded bored, "But you didn't train with me." He smirked as she turned around in her chair.

"I'll even make it interesting, 'Laney. If I win…you and I go drinkin'."

Elena rolled her eyes, "We do that all the time, Reno."

"Not-uh. Rude, you, and I go drinking. I want it to be the two of us." The blonde Turk pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something Reno couldn't catch.

"If I win, you have to go a day not talking to me."

"Deal." Reno stuck out his hand and Elena shook it with a smirk. Oh, she was _so_ going down.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena was busy stretching on the plastic-matting floor of the ShinRa training room. Her short blonde hair was out of her face thanks to a few bobby-pins. She changed into black sweatpants and a white tank top.

"Aw. Here I was thinking you'd wear cute short-shorts." Reno's voice made her head look up. He had even changed out of his usual Turk attire. Oh, wait. No, he didn't. He just took off the black jacket and rolled up the sleeves of the white button-down underneath.

"Pervert."

Elena and Reno stood just a foot away from each other. Reno looked relaxed and totally at ease. Elena stood with her fists up and she smiled a little.

"Ready?"

Elena ducked down and did a sweep kick, that Reno dodged easily. She jumped back onto her feet and used her forearms to block Reno's punches. She grabbed his fist and spun around, landing an elbow in the middle of his back. He grunted and twisted, kicking her feet out from under her.

She fell flat onto the mat and quickly rolled to avoid being pinned. Elena bounced back and forth on her feet, "Getting tired?"

"Nope." He answered with a grin. Their fighting became almost a rhythm, a dance, and Elena couldn't help but feel proud. They were evenly matched! Her roundhouse kick sent Reno sprawled out on the floor.

"Alright, enough going easy on ya." Reno said getting to his feet. Elena was confused; _he was going easy on me this whole time? Argh! Jerk!' _

Elena quickly moved out of the way of Reno's kick, she did a back spring and landed in a crouched position. Holy shit. Since when was Reno so fast? He didn't even give her a moment to catch her breath before he attacked again.

His fist collided with her stomach and she coughed, using her strength to punch him in the jaw. He stumbled back a little. Elena took in a few deep breaths, he didn't hurt her…but it still stunned her senses.

"Game over." Reno said quietly before Elena' felt her back crack against the wall. What? When did he get her from the middle of the room to the wall? She shook her head and her fist connected with Reno's sternum. His grunt made her smile, _'I'm not weak.' _She wanted to tell him that but her breath was ragged and her vocal chords wouldn't work anyway.

She took this advantage to escape from the wall, but Reno tackled her. He sat on her stomach and pinned her wrists against the floor. Elena glared daggers at him as she used all her strength to push her wrists away from the floor. It was hopeless though, she wasn't going anywhere.

"'Laney, I think I won." He said with that smug grin on his face.

'_While I was trapped beneath him, I kept thinking all these weird things. Like how he would look with his hair down. I think I got lost in his electric eyes for just a moment because…at that moment I couldn't talk. It was weird for me; I always had something to say—especially to Reno. But the way those bright red strands hung in front of his eyes and the slight glimmer of sweat on his forehead…'_

Suddenly, Elena felt his grip loosen on her right wrist. She twisted her wrist out of his grip and gave a rather foolish attempt to right-hook him in the face. Reno leaned back to dodge—ah—just where she wanted him. Elena shifted and moved her legs and partially wrapped them around his torso. She pushed him down, his grip falling.

Not loosing momentum, Elena straddled his hips and had to use her whole body weight to keep him pinned down.

"Oh my 'Lena. I didn't know you liked it on top."

"Shut up. I win."

"No, you don't." Reno smirked and Elena's brain thought of fifty different ways he could get out of this. He was stronger than she was. He was faster too. Reno just kept grinning. "I had you pinned for ten seconds while you were off in la-la land."

She glared at him, one strand of blonde hair had fallen loose from its pin and now it stuck to her face.

"But…look on the bright side, you got to beat me up for what I did earlier."

Elena's face turned bright pink and she quickly climbed off of her fellow Turk. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her tank top. Reno…he always had some ulterior motive to everything he did. This was no exception.

"Is that the real reason you wanted to fight me?" She turned to see him still lying down on the floor, with his hands behind his head.

"Maybe." He said glancing at her, "or maybe I just wanted to see you in action."

Elena extended her hand to him, "Did you really go easy on me when we first started?" She asked, biting her lower lip. He took her hand and she helped him up with ease.

"You owe me a date." He said—damn he was good at changing the subject.

"Whoa!" Elena brought her hands up in surprise, "That wasn't the deal!"

"I believe it was." Reno smirked "The deal was that you and I would go out for drinks, that's a date…is it not?"

Elena kept opening and closing her mouth, like some sort of fish out of water. "But…" She repeated over ten thousand times. "That's not fair!"

"Whatever 'Laney." Reno brushed aside her comment. "I will see you tonight…" He walked away with a grin on his face. Teasing the rookie was always a blast.

&3&3&3&3&3

(_Flashback)_

"_So who do you like?" Reno asked, even though he already knew the answer. The three Turks were stuck in the office and Reno wasn't about to do paperwork. He sat in his chair backwards, with his arms crossed on the top. _

"…"

"_Aw! C'mon Rude!" Reno smirked a little. "We want to know, don't we, right 'Laney?"_

"_No." The blonde rolled her eyes before going back to her papers. Her pen moved quickly across the pages._

"_Fine. Who do you like?" He asked, turning his attention to Elena. She looked up to meet his eyes._

"_No one."_

"…_Is it a girl?"_

"_No, I told you, I don't like anyone."_

"_Is it someone I know?"_

"_No."_

"_It's me, isn't it?"_

"_Hell no! Now could you please shut up and let me get back to work?" She let out a frustrated sigh and her eyebrows knit together in aggravation._

"_You're no fun." Reno grumbled before decided now would be a nice time to take a nap._

* * *

A/N: A very Reno/Elena chapter, but don't worry, in the next chapter that will be when the true action and drama starts.

Please review and tell me what you thought of it. Hopefully, I did okay with the whole 'fight' scene.

Also, I finished this at 1:43AM. So if you find any mistakes, let me know so I can correct them. Thanks


	3. Bitter Reunion

A/N: Um wow…so two months, roughly, I haven't updated this. So much for trying to keep everything on the same schedule.

Thanks to everyone for their reviews. I finally got off my ass and started typing…because of the reviews. So thank you, sincerely, they motivate me.

* * *

_Previously…_

Elena kept opening and closing her mouth, like some sort of fish out of water. "But…" She repeated over ten thousand times. "That's not fair!"

"Whatever 'Laney." Reno brushed aside her comment. "I will see you tonight…" He walked away with a grin on his face. Teasing the rookie was always a blast.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena could barely concentrate on her paperwork. Rude was silent at his desk. Reno hadn't been in their office since their little sparring match. Elena stood up and took her laptop, "I'm heading home." She told Rude.

"Hm." The bald man nodded in response.

Her shoes clicked along the floor tiles as she walked. ShinRa was always quiet, sometimes it was nice and other times it was eerie. This was one of those times. Elena couldn't help but quicken her pace, she wanted to get to her car and get home.

Maybe she could ditch her date. Call Reno and tell him she was—whoa, '_did I just say date? Damnit. It was a trick, not a date. I'd rather eat nails than date Reno of the freaking Turks! Stupid…womanizer.'_

Elena reached the ShinRa parking garage with a hint of relief in her thoughts. Her footsteps echoed, the bag with the laptop hung heavy on her shoulder and her keys jingled in her hand.

"Lena!"

"God damnit." Elena cursed under her breath. She didn't turn around though, though she knew very well that he was behind her. _'Why didn't I hear his footsteps? Was I so wrapped in my thoughts? Gotta be sharper than that!'_

"Hey…I just wanted to tell ya that I'm gonna pick you up at seven."

"Reno, it's six-thirty."

He sighed and Elena could imagine him rolling his eyes behind her.

"Fine, I'll get you at seven-thirty. You better look hot."

It was Elena's turn to roll her eyes. "In your dreams, Reno."

"Oh babe, you have _no_ idea."

Elena threw a quick glance over her shoulder. He stood just like she imagined he would be. His hands in his pockets, a slight slouch in his stance, and that trademark smirk.

Maybe it was just the lighting, but Elena could have sworn she saw his smirk widen when she looked at him. Without another word, the blonde walked off to her car. Setting the bag carefully on the floor of her passenger seat. Elena pushed her hair back and away from her face. Her mind was searching for reasons to get out of this little 'date'.

&3&3

Reno couldn't explain why he teased Elena. It was fun and it got her to stop acting like some proper-stuck up bitch all the time who only care in the world was her job. Reno learned the hard way that a job wasn't someone's whole life. Sure, being a Turk was a lifestyle but Reno was other things…like a womanizer, a helicopter pilot, and a sexy-beast.

Elena could be defined with one word: Rookie.

He took it upon himself to get the rookie to act human once and while. When they argued it was the only time, he saw emotions in her eyes.

Now, he had to wait until 7:30 and show 'Laney a good time.

&3&3&3

_**7:45pm**_

"You're late." Elena pointed out with a matter-of-fact tone.

Reno leaned against the doorframe of her apartment door with a grin on his face. "So?"

"I value promptness; we can't go on the date now. Goodbye." She went to shut the door in his face but a quick hand stopped it. Elena pursed her lips in annoyance. She had taken a shower and even dressed up (a little) in a navy blue dress with black flip-flops. The dress wasn't elegant by any means. It reached just below her knee and the straps were a half-inch thick. But, she liked it because it showed off the slight curve of her hips. Elena couldn't describe her jealousy towards curvy girls like Tifa.

"Come on! It's part of the deal." Reno made no motion to move from his spot.

"I really can't…I have paperwork." Elena shifted her eyes to the floor, one hand still curled around the door knob in hopes to push it shut when she had the chance.

"You do not. How about …come out with me and if you're not having a good time then leave, yo. No questions asked."

Elena raised an eyebrow at his words. Was Reno actually negotiating? Well then, she'd go out for one drink and then leave. Reno's eyes were grinning at her in the soft light of the apartment hallway. Elena let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay…"

"Excellent!" He reached with his other arm and grabbed onto her wrist, effectively pulling Elena out of her home without so much as a warning.

The ride to the bar was quiet. She couldn't figure out w hat was going on in his mind—if anything. She caught his glances a few times but couldn't open her mouth. The silence was nice if it wasn't for the fact that the silence was between her and Reno.

"Are you mad?" He suddenly asked, almost out of nowhere.

Elena was thankful for the start of a conversation. "Not really, I was…but now I'm fine. It's just strange not having Rude here."

Reno gave her his trademark smirk, along with a lingering gaze towards the blonde Turk. She shifted a little in her seat. "What?" Elena snapped.

"Do you like Rude?"

"Wha-? No!" Elena felt her cheeks turn pink and she quickly turned her head to gaze out the window. She heard Reno chuckling under his breath. _'Tch, So glad my embarrassment entertains you.' _

The rest of the trip was in silence.

&3&3&3&3

Elena pursed her lips when she saw the place. Honestly, all the bars looked the same to her. She didn't mind drinking but it was up to her to keep Reno on his feet most of the nights. There were plenty of men and women in the place and soft blue-gray smoke hovered around the ceiling.

She would have to shower again to wash the smell out of her hair.

Reno led her to one of the small circular tables, near a window. He'd never tell her, but he knew how she didn't like smoke and the window was an escape for fresh air.

"Elena?" Said woman turned her head at the sound of her name. The sight made her heart jump to her throat and her face twist into a delicate frown.

The woman standing before her was her sister. Rosalind. She was a Turk when Elena was in high school. Her blonde hair had grown out, no longer short and straight like it used to be. She had it braided and the braid was hanging over her left shoulder.

Elena had last heard of her sister when she left the Turks. It wasn't a "pack your stuff and leave" job. The Turks knew too much. So, Rosalind had to have a staged death, then go, and live elsewhere. Never recall or retell her 'previous' life even if she was tortured, threatened, or otherwise. Of course, Elena never found out about her sister's fake death until one day she asked Tseng what happens when you quit.

Reno barely recognized the older woman. He could remember her perfectionist attitude and she had a killer shot with a pistol. Other than that, she was just another girl in a suit. How'd she know Elena's name?

"Rosalind. I thought you were dead." Elena replied, her face smoothing into a more relaxed composure. Reno watched her silently; he could see her lower lip trembling ever-so slightly. He couldn't tell if it was from sadness or rage.

"I heard you're following my footsteps."

"No. I'm making my own path." Elena crossed her arms. Her sister, as she remembered her always remained loyal, was polite, and had a serious attitude like Tsengs'.

"Good for you. Too bad you never were great with a gun, being in that profession requires a lot of accuracy."

Elena shifted and her eyes slipped to the floor for just a brief moment. "I'm not here to play stupid sibling rivalry games with you."

"Don't try to act like you're the older sister."

"I liked you better when I thought you were dead."

Rosalind's nostrils flared. The icy attitude the two sisters had been sharing had now been switched to a more intense argument. Elena's words were bitter and held an edge. Reno never saw her like this before, she was always in control of her emotions and now she was struggling.

"You keep acting like we're equals now. You know in your heart it isn't true." Rosalind paused for a moment, watching Elena's reaction.

'_Never hit a girl. Never hit a girl.' _Reno repeated in his mind. Elena was his team member, co-worker, and friend— whatever else. He couldn't just sit here while her sister tore open old wounds and placed insecurity in Elena's heart.

"After all, you're here on a date with my…" Rosalind cleared her throat a little. Her green eyes turned jade while glaring at Elena. "Sloppy seconds"

Elena wanted to say something. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Listen up, you crazy drunk. Leave 'Laney and me alone. She was having a fine time until you showed up and I don't care if back in the day—you had better aim or whatever. Just get the hell outta here, yo." Reno said while narrowing his aqua colored eyes. In the soft light of the bar, he looked dangerous.

"I'm not drunk." Rosalind placed both hands on her hips.

"Whatever. I'm only asking nicely cause 'Laney wouldn't want me to do anything stupid."

Rosalind smirked a little, "Fine. Have fun with your one-night stand." Getting the final word in, Rosalind left and disappeared into the crowd.

Elena managed to thank Reno with a small smile.

&3&3&3&3

Rude took a sip of his coffee and then set the mug down. Another night with Tifa. "So, where is the rest of the group?" The brunette asked while putting away clean glasses.

"Reno took Elena on a date."

"Really?" Tifa gave a soft laugh. "He asked her?"

"He tricked her into it."

"That's…kinda sweet." Tifa said with a small smile. She turned around to face Rude. It was rather nice of him to keep her company. When Cloud left, leaving his cell phone behind and just a note saying 'Don't worry about me.' Tifa had been left alone and she had been trying to move on.

"How so? I don't exactly recommend fooling someone into a date." Rude found it easier to talk with Tifa. He could talk with Reno too but Tifa held certain elegance, a motherly patience, and a gorgeous face. He enjoyed her presence.

"That means he really likes her if he's willing to try so hard to get a date with her." Tifa was there when he kissed her. She saw his affection every time the Turks came into her bar. It wasn't anything 'soft' like trying to hold her hand, brushing away her hair, or anything like that. When guys gave Elena a hard time, asking her to 'Party with them'. Reno was always right there to watch her back.

At first, Tifa thought it was a brotherly affection. Like Reno was looking over the young rookie. Until Elena proved, she didn't need looking after when one night she punched a man twice her size in the face. The man stumbled and went to attack Elena, but Reno moved so quickly to her side. Watching Reno and Elena at her bar was like watching two little kids. He'd tease her, she'd argue with him and blush, only making him tease her more.

"Reno isn't the type to stick with one girl." Rude pulled Tifa away from her musings.

Tifa sighed, knowing Rude was right. Every man loved the chase. But she felt obligated to stick up for Reno, "People change." She said softly before turning away again. Rude gave a small nod, picking up his coffee cup again.

&3&3&3&3

There was a busty black haired woman blatantly hitting on Reno. Naturally, Reno was flirting back. Elena got up from her chair and said womanizer glanced over at her. She mouthed the word 'bathroom' before getting away from the awkward situation.

If she heard that woman say "That's so funny." Or "You're so funny." One more time she would have thrown her drink into her face just to shut her up. Reno was a flirt and Elena could understand that. She couldn't help but feel just a _little _hurt when he ignored her to focus on the newest victim of his charm.

Elena pushed open the bathroom door. She had two choices: Return to Reno and hope the girl was gone. Then again, Reno was her friend…she didn't want to seem like she was jealous or stopping him from getting action. Reno had a word for that but it was far too vulgar for Elena to even whisper it.

Her second choice was to leave.

Elena took the back door out of the bar and she was thankful her many missions as a Turk made her savvy to the streets.

&3&3&&3

"Where'd your friend go?" The dark-haired stranger asked, nearly spilling her drink on Reno's lap.

"Bathroom, I think."

"She's been gone for a while. I don't think she's coming back so…how about me and you…?"

Reno smirked but shook his head. "She wouldn't have left. She knows how dangerous the streets can be."

"I'll check the bathrooms but if she's not there…I can be your date for the night." The woman said with a wink before she walked away. Reno took the opportunity to leave the bar, he knew for a fact that Elena had left. He could see it on her face. She was already a little upset with her encounter with Rosalind.

'_You just can't keep it in your pants.'_ That's what her eyes said right before she left.

&3&3&3&3

Elena couldn't believe she ran into her sister this evening. Shortly after Elena joined the Turks, Rosalind 'died'. Their father didn't even frown when he heard the news. She earned a proper funeral. Elena remained haunted by her sister's shadow.

Now her sister had to come and haunt her in the flesh.

'_Sloppy seconds? She and Reno? They…' _Elena couldn't finish her thought. Her stomach twisted violently as if she was going to throw up but she wasn't sick. It wasn't disgust either. She didn't want to place her finger on the word just yet.

"My, my, isn't it a little late for you to be out?"

Elena turned around to see four…no…five men. Her hand went to her leg, where her gun was supposed to be holstered. The blood in her veins turned cold when she realized it wasn't there.

'_Shit. I must've forgotten it when Reno dragged me out of my apartment. Shit. Shit. Shit!'_

"Why not stay with us?" One said.

"We'll keep you nice and warm." A man standing in the back.

'_Breathe. You're not some helpless child. You're the greatest at hand-to-hand! You almost beat Reno!'_ Elena moved so she was in a more defensive stance, with her hands up and ready.

The men gave a chorus of laughter.

"You wanna fight us? I like them feisty anyway!"

The group of men came closer until they circled her. Elena needed the element of surprise, with a swift kick, she sent the man in front of her to the ground. Taking no chances, she dodged a fist and connected of her own to the man's jaw. He grunted and stumbled to the side. Thank god for alcohol making them slower—but sadly more dangerous.

She gave a roundhouse kick to another guy. Out of her peripheral vision, she noticed a man taking a blade out from his coat pocket. She reached to grab his wrist so she could disarm him, but she miscalculated and wasn't quick enough to dodge an incoming blow to her head. Elena stumbled, her vision turning red for a moment as the man missed his swipe, she could hear the blade cutting through the air and the stinging sensation as the blood exposed itself from the skin. It wasn't deep, just a cut on her cheek, but damn it stung.

"We don't wanna mess up that pretty face of yours!" Someone kneed her in the gut, bringing Elena to her knees.

The men laughed again. "I like her on her knees."

Elena stood back up and to her surprise; they didn't hit her. Just laughed and told her to give up. She saw a black shadow in the alleyway but a man—she figured he was the leader of the group. He grabbed her by the neck.

"Don't scream. I'll kill ya." He said holding up the blade for proof. Elena dug her nails into his hand and he released her after a few moments. When her feet touched the ground, she was going to run, but one of his damn goons grabbed her arm and nearly popped it from the socket.

She couldn't scream. It wasn't his threat that stopped her. It was her pride wouldn't let her give them the satisfaction of knowing they hurt her.

She heard a man yell and then her arm was released. Elena fell, palms out, onto the sidewalk. She pushed herself up from the ground and was going to turn around to fight them but a bug bit her neck, falling again onto the sidewalk, she saw a flash of a black sleeve and then everything went black.

&3&&3&3&3

Elena opened her eyes, seeing the bright red hair of Reno hovering over her. "Thank fuck, you're awake." She felt around to make sure everything was real and not some crazed dream. She was lying in the back of Reno's car. He was standing, hunched over, with the car door open. It was weird seeing his face upside down. He moved his head away, his face back to its relaxed smirk.

Elena sat up as he shut the door and got into the driver seat. "How did I get here?"

"I found you lying in the middle of the sidewalk." Reno answered, glancing back at the rookie from the rear-view mirror.

Elena avoided his gaze. Even after, she had left him with not so much as a goodbye; he still came to her 'rescue'. Elena scooted forward in her seat and carefully placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her in the mirror.

"Thanks…for having my back." Elena finally met his gaze. She saw him raise an eyebrow.

"I didn't. When I found you, there were about five guys knocked out and you on the ground." Elena's hand slipped from his shoulder.

"So…someone else saved me?"

"I guess so." He grinned, "Laney has a secret admirer!"

"I do NOT!" She sat back on the seat and crossed her arms. _'If it wasn't Reno…then who? It's not like people in this city go out of their way to help others.' _

"Just remember to bring a weapon next time, rookie."

Elena kicked the back of his chair, a smug smile on her face when she heard him curse. "Just get me home."

The cut on her cheek was healing but she wanted to get home and put a proper bandage on it. Then maybe once she was safe in her apartment, she could figure out who the hell saved her.

* * *

A/N: Review please! I wonder who saved Elena?

Getting this chapter out was like pulling teeth. I'd have inspiration, and then I would get stuck. It was so bad. But, I got it done!

I'd really appreciate it if you left me a review. Obviously, Reno/Elena isn't as popular as IchiRuki but its still fun to write and I need reviews to motivate me to write more.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


	4. Harsh Orders

A/N: Holy Ukitake mushrooms. {I swear to god, I said Shiitake and my spell check was like 'Did you mean...UKITAKE?" and it made me laugh, so I kept it.}

Been a while...but anyways, please review when you're finished. I've been so bad with updating this...I deeply apologize. Also, nothing is owned by me and this was written after Advent Children, although Midgar was never rebuilt [according to Google], in this fic, it was.

So there.

* * *

_Previously...._

Elena kicked the back of his chair, a smug smile on her face when she heard him curse. "Just get me home."

The cut on her cheek was healing but she wanted to get home and put a proper bandage on it. Then maybe once she was safe in her apartment, she could figure out who the hell saved her.

_&3&3&3&3_

Elena rubbed her sore neck when she awoke that morning. Five in the morning...but that was only because today was the day Elena of the Turks went running. She determined when she would go running based on the previous night.

If she didn't get a good nights rest, she would do extra push-ups instead of running.

If she didn't have time for the good coffee before she got to work, she'd stay late and do some cardio at the gym.

But today was perfect. Elena felt fine, for once. Her body was a little sore due to the thugs that attacked her, the cut on her cheek was properly cleaned and treated. Yes, today was a good day to go running. She would be able to make it in early to work too...

It was time like these...Elena wished she wasn't so devoted to being a Turk. The picture frames in her house still had the fake-model pictures that came with the frames. She made few friends in the Shin-Ra building...sure, she knew a few names, recognized a few faces, but that was as far as her friendship went.

She hated to admit it. But Rude and Reno were her closest friends. They were as close to friends as she had. That sounded much better.

Elena pulled her hair back with a headband. She hated when it got in her face while she was running. Her Turk suit was folded neatly on the edge of her bed. As if it was calling to her, saying, 'Don't go. You have work to do.'

But running was Elena's only true stress-relief. If she didn't exercise...she'd probably stab Reno with a ball point pen. Oh, god. Reno. Elena got a headache just thinking about him. Some days, she respected him as a senior Turk. Other days—most days, he infuriated her to no end.

At least he didn't try anything last night.

&3&3&3&3

"_Just get me home."_

"_Only if I can crash with you."_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" He glanced at her from the rear-view mirror. Elena reminded herself to choose her words carefully. She pursed her lips as she thought of a logical reason...one that wouldn't give Reno something to fire back with._

"_I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate me bringing another man home." A total lie. A total lie that Reno of the freaking Turks could see right through. He smirked and glanced back at Elena._

"_Uh-huh. Sure 'Laney." Smart ass. But before she could say anything to -that- little comment. He had already pulled beside her apartment building. Just a few more months and she'd have enough to move to a nice house. She wanted out of Midgar...too many memories. She didn't know where she'd go yet...somewhere warm...where she could see the stars every night._

"_See ya." Reno said when she climbed out of his car, it's slick black color practically blended into the environment._

"_Hm." She responded, glad that she was home early tonight._

&3&3&3&3

Elena's lungs were burning, greedily trying to gulp in as much as possible, and she wouldn't stop running. Her body ached and begged for her to stop. But Elena had learned to control these impulses. Midgar had been cleaning up...trying to anyway.

The slums were still pretty bad. But less people were on the streets the more buildings were made. But this time, the new buildings were made out of stronger materials. Elena figured that people were worrying something bad like the Meteor would happen again.

"Hey!" A loud male voice stopped Elena in her tracks. Her gray sweatpants, white T-shirt, and ordinary joggers didn't make her stand out at all. So why was this guy calling to her...then again there were only a few people on the street.

"Yes?" Elena rose her eyebrow as the man took a few strides to reach just a foot away. The first thing she noticed was his eyes. Gray, like the ground and buildings around them. But...bright like the sun.

"Did you find Allen?"

_'Who the hell is Allen?' _Elena wanted to slap herself. '_Allen was the kid who dropped off that package? Remember?'_

"No..." She sounded defeated. In all honesty, she was. They had found zero leads...not even with the kids name and picture. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

"That's...that really sucks." The man hid his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His eye contact never wavered from hers and for some strange reason, that made Elena feel good. Almost as if he looked up to her even though she was obviously shorter.

"Sorry I was so harsh when we first met. Gotta reputation to keep..." He gave her a grin. Elena smiled, keeping her tone and body language friendly. If this guy knew who that kid was...Allen...then maybe he could lead her right to the threatening group.

"I'm Seth."

"Elena." _'Oh shit. Did I just mess up already!? I gave him my -real- name. Stupid. Stupid. Argh!' _It took Elena a few extra seconds before realizing his hand was out to shake hers. Elena reached out and grasped his hand, it was warm but rough. Something about this guy...Seth...just made her feel different.

She couldn't tell if that was good or bad.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to complete my morning exercises." Elena said with a polite, sugar-coated, smile.

"Oh yeah, sure." Seth rubbed the back of his head while Elena idly wondered why he kept his hair hidden. Was it an obnoxious color...like red? Or was he bald, like Rude?

"Elena, if you ever want to come by...maybe we can search for Allen together."

Elena gave him a real smile this time. "I'd like that."

Then she was running again, her body silently protesting with each step and her heart hammering against her ribs. It was if her heart was saying with each pump 'I-hate-you'. Elena smirked, she knew running would lead her to something great. Tseng would be proud that she was able to get closer to someone who possibly knew more about this unknown threat. Maybe she'd leave out the part about her giving the man her real name.

&3&3&3&3&

Elena sipped her coffee while waiting for Tseng. He had a meeting and requested that she sit patiently in his office, help herself to the coffee, and he'd only be gone a few minutes. Elena was content but her curiosity began to overwhelm that contentment.

Tseng's office was so clean. His desk was nicely polished, no picture frames, no documents, all the pens and pencils were securely in a cup near his laptop. There were no extra sounds—was his office sound-proof? That would come in handy...Elena set her cup down on the desk. She stood up, stepping behind the desk and running her fingers along the wood.

Someday, she'd own a desk like this. She'd have a sound-proof room and anti-Reno locks on the doors. She'd get so much work done...Elena smiled, embraced by all these warm and fuzzy thoughts.

"Elena! There you are!" The office door burst open, slammed, and a voice broke all silence.

Her eyes flicked upwards to see Reno—who else would it be? Who else could be so careless as to practically kick down their superiors door? Reno. That's who.

"What is it, Reno?" She asked keeping her voice level and calm. Tseng's desk must have some magic Materia that keeps the person behind it at ease.

"Rude thinks he found a base. Where's Tseng?"

"In a meeting. A base for what? How did he find it?" Elena's interest was piqued and she moved away from the desk, leaning her hip against the side. If this desk really did have magic powers—she was going to need it. Dealing with Reno early in the morning was not exactly the easiest thing to do. He was always so jacked-up on coffee.

"Rude said he was heading home and saw this unusually busy bar. Now, this was a bar that had shut down three months ago—I only remember that because there was a blonde barmaid that worked there and she--"

"Reno, please stay on topic." Elena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she crossed her arms.

"Right, so. Rude went to check it out. The bouncer told him that the bar was off limits to non-members."

"So? Reno, it's probably just some sleazy bar that wants to make extra money off people buying member passes or whatever." Elena countered with a small shake of her head.

Within seconds, Reno had his hands on her shoulders and his piercing gaze was burning into hers. Elena found herself speechless—as she always does in these situations.

"Elena." He was always serious when he used her full name. Her real name. Not some nickname like Lena, 'Laney, Rookie, etc.

"Maybe in fancy tourist towns that shit happens. But not here, everyone wants to drink and loose their problems—if only for a few hours. They don't deny entry...that's just how it is. Tifa never denied us any drinks even though we were a part of ShinRa." Reno had a point. She couldn't deny that. Tifa used to say 'Turks or not, they're still paying costumers.'

"M-maybe you're onto something..." Elena couldn't help but inwardly grin at the excited look in Reno's eyes. Now that she thought about, he was rather close. Why hadn't he tried anything? Did she want him to? Hell no. But it was unlike Reno to pass up an opportunity such as this. Was she leaning closer or was that him? Elena bit her lower lip.

"Ahem." A short and abrupt cough made Reno's hands retract from her shoulders as if they were on fire.

"Sir!" Elena squeaked, taking a large step away from Reno and nearly tripping over her own two feet. Elena, bright faced and avoiding eye contact. Reno, completely relaxed and now telling their boss about what Rude found.

"This is excellent. Elena, did you have something you wanted to tell me?" Tseng turned his attention to the blonde.

"Ah...yes...sir."

"Tseng."

"Right. Tseng..." Elena cleared her throat and adjusted her suit jacket, as if it needed adjusting. "Today I spoke with a man named Seth. He knows of the boy, Allen, the original delivery boy of the inactive bomb. I believe that if I can get close to him...he may be able to give me more information about whoever it is that's after us."

Tseng gave a rare smile. Elena felt her heart give a small flutter. "Great plan. Elena, get closer to this...Seth. Actually..." Tseng's face returned to his stoic yet wistful expression. "Let's recruit him."

"What?" Reno and Elena said in unison.

"Take him under your wing. Train him. Give him something to live for, to fight for, and then he'll give us all the information we desire. Because he is just a pawn in leading us to our true goal, we will give him only false information."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Elena asked quietly. Reno was thinking the same thing. Some random guy off the street? Slightly connected to the terrorist group and suddenly Tseng wants to make him a Turk?

"All missions are dangerous, Elena." Tseng answered and he returned to his desk. "Good luck."

Elena knew she was dismissed and she wanted nothing more than to get out of Tseng's office. On the outside, she looked composed.

Reno knew she was freaking out just from her eyes. He quickly followed after her, catching the door in her wake and letting it slam behind him.

"'Lena!"

"What?" She snapped. Oh damn. She was a lot more upset than he thought. Her blonde head whipped around to meet his eyes.

"It sounds like an easy mission to me." Reno scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight as if he was bored.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm sure I'll find someway to screw it up."

"Whoah." He rose an eyebrow. "Where the hell did that attitude come from?" Elena was so damn confusing. One minute, she'd be in your face and claiming she's stronger. The next, she's an insecure rookie all over again.

Elena ran a hand through her hair, brows knitting together as her mind scuffled through her disorganized thoughts.

"I just don't like that we have to deceive him. He was a really nice and genuine guy..."

Reno gave a half shrug. "Turks are the bad guys, remember?"

Elena shot a glare at him before she walked away. Her heels clicked noisily against the hallways linoleum

"Where are you going'?" Reno called after her. He smirked a little, at least he enjoyed watching Elena walk away.

"I've got a mission to do." Elena said over her should before she disappeared into the elevator. Reno was left standing in the hallway like an idiot. Seriously, what the hell was up with this woman? Not even thirty seconds ago she was ready to bail on the mission and now she was off to go and do it.

He'd never understand her.

&3&3&3&3&

The elevator numbers blinked above Elena's head. She stared at them but wasn't really paying attention.

_'A Turk's mission is placed above all else. It's our job, it's what we do. Who cares if we kill this person when it benefits a thousand? I'll play my role in this. I'll earn Seth's trust...his friendship...and he will join the Turks. But what if he's not connected at all? What if Allen was really just a kid who hung out around him and just got tangled in the wrong crowd?'_

63...

62....

61....

_'I really don't want to do this. But our missions aren't always easy...I need to be hopeful. Seth won't be killed because it's not like we are going to tell him any -real- information. He won't know any ShinRa secrets. Tseng will make sure to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't steal any information.'_

59....

58....

57......

_'The Turks aren't always the bad guys. There are other evils in this world. Reno doesn't know what the hell he's talking about...'_

The elevator came to a halt and Elena looked up, the letter 'L' in neon green above the doors. Said doors chimed open and Elena briskly walked out. She had a mission to do. She was going to see it through.

&3&3&3&3&3

"Elena is alone on this mission?" Rude asked as the two sat in their office. It was strangely empty without the petite blonde sitting at her desk. Reno took the chance to poke around through said desk.

"That's an invasion of privacy." Rude had said but Reno just shrugged.

It wasn't like Elena had anything of interest anyway.

"Yup. Rookie is growing up." Reno said with a light chuckle. He yanked open her desk drawer, finding pens, paper, paperclips, sharpies—boring,boring,boring. Reno puffed out his cheeks, a sign of both boredom and annoyance.

"She's got nothin'. No dirty magazines, no family pictures..." He shut the drawer with an audible huff.

"Hm." Rude looked away from his partner deciding to focus on his paperwork. He found it odd that Reno was able to put family pictures and pornography in the same category. Then again, he was never the most modest of people. Always blunt, to the point..Rude focused on his work again, thinking that his partner had shut up for the rest of the day. Reno didn't stop his little talk there, oh no.

"The only time she goes out is on missions or when we drag her out. She doesn't talk to anyone. Her desk reminds me of Tseng's...empty. It's just so freaking creepy. Today, she went from 'Oh I can't do this mission' to ' I have a mission to do' in a matter of five seconds. Fucking ridiculous." He stared up at the ceiling before continuing.

"She must have multi-personalities or some shit cause I can't figure her out. I mean, what the hell is her problem?" Reno kicked his feet up onto her desk. He hoped the dirt on his shoes would fall onto her paperwork. She'd be so mad and it would be _so hilarious. _The question he had asked moments before was rhetorical so he was a little surprised when Rude cleared his throat.

"Elena...didn't have much time for friends when she grew up. She preferred solitude instead of being constantly compared to her sister. In that solitude, Elena trained and tried to find a way to define herself—step away from her sisters shadow..."

Reno remembered the night before, that bitchy blonde chick—Rosalind? Yeah, that was her name.

"When she was put into our group, she felt out of place. Insecure. You and I have known each other for years...while she was just a replacement after you were injured. To this day, she struggles and pushes herself—and even with us as her partners that she's known for more than two years. Elena keeps to herself, to her solitude, because that's all she's ever needed and known."

Rude finished and didn't say another word after that.

"Damn." Reno let out a low whistle. "That's depressing." He couldn't help but wonder how the hell Rude knew all that. Did Elena tell him? Nah. When would that have the time for a gal-pal chit-chat? The three of them were almost always together and Reno was with Elena more than Rude was. At least, on a one-on-one basis.

"When you're as silent as I am. You learn to read people. Elena's...easy to read."

"Ha!" Reno let out a bark of laughter. "You've gotta be shitting me. I can't read her at all."

Rude smirked. "That's because you talk too much."

"Che." Reno rolled his eyes. "I do not."

* * *

A/N: Another 1AM chapter! Woo!

I read over it this morning and fixed some careless errors. So...please, please, please review. They really help motivate me to write.


	5. Bloody Afternoon

A/N: Oh em gee!

I'm alive. Are you?

This is a more action-packed chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_Previously..._

"Ha!" Reno let out a bark of laughter. "You've gotta be shitting me. I can't read her at all."

Rude smirked. "That's because you talk too much."

"Che." Reno rolled his eyes. "I do not."

&3&3&3&3&3

Reno rolled over on the bed. His aqua colored eyes glanced at the woman in bed with him. Honey-blonde hair, built like Tifa, and wide glossy blue eyes. One problem, the woman was ticklish. It really killed the moment when everything Reno had done made her giggle.

Eh, what did it matter?

He got up and searched for his discarded pants. He didn't leave a note. He didn't make coffee. He just got dressed and left. 'Love 'em and leave 'em.' In his profession, there was no point in getting close and trying to have a normal relationship.

At least he remembered to go to her place and not his. Her house reeked of perfume. How did he not notice that last night? Oh whatever...he checked the clock. He was already ten minutes late.

The door shut with a soft _'click'_ behind him.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena sat with Seth on the sidewalk. "So...you're a Turk? I have never heard of them."

"We are just part of the information and research department at ShinRa."

"ShinRa? Doesn't everyone hate them?

Elena let out a small laugh. "Yeah. Mostly everyone."

"But...you say that if I join as a Turk, we could work together?"

Elena stared off into the distance, "Yeah, it would help...to find Allen."

"I'll have to think about it." Seth said crossing his arms as he sat. Elena just nodded, ShinRa was hated—it was natural to approach with caution. Tseng gave her a whole 'script' of sorts. He said to be as honest as possible without revealing too much.

"How's your sister?" He asked quietly. Elena reminded herself of the lie she told; her sister wasn't the bitchy over-achiever that she knew and hated. The sister that Seth knew was a heartbroken mother searching for her lost child.

"Still won't let me inside her house. I've never seen her so torn up..." she sighed a little, but her cell phone interrupted any other parts of the conversation that might have happened. Elena spent a short time on the phone and Seth was watching her with careful gray eyes.

"I have to go." She said while hanging up.

"Will I see you again...?"

"Maybe." Elena responded with a wink. She felt strange flirting; it wasn't exactly her strong point. But the smile that Seth gave her—that had to be a good sign.

&3&3&3&3

Elena was the first to arrive, their target—a building. She cautiously approached the entrance, only to be stopped by a man looking much like Rude. Only far more muscular and with a dragon tattoo sliding around his neck.

"No member. No entrance. Get lost." The man spat at her, his breath reeking of tobacco. The man gave her an once-over. "And we don't like our women wearin' clothes."

Elena felt her face heat up with rage. How could someone be so rude?! How dare he! She had to bite her tongue and back away, politely apologizing. When the blonde's back was turned—that's when she heard the click of a gun. Her heart froze in place.

"Ugh!" She spun around to see the bodyguard slump to the floor, his white tank top coated in blood. Her brown eyes searching the scene quickly for whomever took the shot, but her eyes could not place it.

"Sir? Are you..." Elena felt her words go dry in her throat.

&3&3&3&3&3

"_A bullet straight to the heart, wanna know what that is called...Rookie?"_

"_No."_

"_A love letter."_

"_Whatever, Reno."_

&&3&3&3&3&3&3

That's when the commotion started inside the bar, Elena backed away as a flood of men and some scantily clad women poured out. There was a lot of yelling and mumbling, but all eyes fell onto her.

"ShinRa Bitch!" One shouted. They were all just faces to her.

Elena took a step back, tripping over her own two feet.

She saw someone reach for their waistband. The yelling, shouting, and points in her direction intensified.

"Get her!"

Elena jumped to her feet again at that point and darted for the nearest cover, just as a bullet collided into her shoulder. "Oh my god..." She took a deep breath, hearing more clicks and shuffling. How many were armed?! Elena reached inside her coat, pulling out her own weapon.

She wasn't going to die here!

She fired a few rounds, taking down three enemies. Her right shoulder was burning with pain but she ignored it. A Turk was a Turk. Easy as that. The blood was soaking into her shirt; god knows how many washes she was going to have to do to get all the red out. _'Alright, breathe. You caught them off guard and only three are armed—the rest are tending to the wounded or have fled. You can do this.'_

She ducked behind the car, hearing the rain of bullets smash against the side. The glass shattering around her. Elena covered her head with her hands as little shards of glass cut into her skin. She waited for the comforting sound of her enemies reloading. _'God! Why is their aim so...perfect? They must be in a gang...most people aim high or low wanting to avoid their target. These men shoot to kill'._

She sat back up, if she wasn't so used to being crouched, her knees would be killing her. _'Turk training at its best, I suppose.' _Elena steadied her arm on the side of the trunk of the car.

"Laney! Get down!" a rough voice yelled before one hand yanked her back and onto her butt. _'Reno?'_

A flash of red hair and another cascade of bullets. Elena smiled to herself.

Turks never fought alone.

She felt a familiar swell in her chest, just like the time when Don had her tied up on the cliff—and she honestly didn't believe that Reno would come to her rescue. She could easily recall the rush of emotion to see her two Turk friends, to watch Reno step on Don's fingers before sending him to his doom.

It was one of her more vivid memories.

Elena got back to her feet and she could only stare at that idiotic womanizer. He had taken them all down, by himself, and he didn't look the least bit tired. She should expect that from him—really. Elena saw Reno take down more men, women, and machines than she could count. But, every single time she was impressed by the skill hidden underneath the mop of red hair and disheveled clothes.

"Elena, are you alright?" The blonde turned to see Rude standing beside her; she could only assume he was looking at her blood-coated shoulder.

"It's nothing serious." Elena responded with what she hoped to be a professional nod.

"Patch yourself up, Rookie. Then meet us inside." Reno said with his back turned.

"Okay." Elena suddenly felt so weak and useless again, she had managed to take down some of her targets but she still needed to be helped. She was grateful, but she wanted just once to take on a mission—without help.

Rude followed Reno into the bar, "She hates being left behind." Rude said as he put on his gloves.

Reno made a non-committal grunt. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar, the blood splatter on his clothes and skin. The dim lighting of the bar making his eyes glow slightly. Reno stepped on broken glass, even stepped over a few bodies.

"What happened?" Reno muttered

"The commotion outside must have caused a riot…" Rude leaned down and his lips set into a frown. He carefully turned over one of the face-down bodies; it was a woman with long dark brown hair. His heart was racing and jumping into his throat.

'_Thank god…it's not Tifa.'_ Rude straightened himself back up and continued to follow Reno.

Reno placed his palm on the wall, his eyes narrowing slightly, there had to be some sort of hidden doorway.

"I found something!" Elena's voice cut through the silence. Reno spun around to see her crouched beside a body, but her brown eyes were doing their best not to glance at it. Her hands were flat against the dirty wood of the bar and she must have left her jacket outside because she was only in the white undershirt of ShinRa's uniform. More than half the shirt was coated in blood.

Unlike Reno, who looked dangerous with blood on his clothes and face, Elena looked less like a warrior and more like a victim. Possibly, because it was her own blood and not the blood of her enemies but, Reno could waste time thinking about it another day.

"What is it, 'Lena?"

"It's like…a hatch." Elena's hands took hold of the iron ring and she tugged the hatch door squeak in protest. Rude helped her open it the rest of the way but, none of the Turks could speak. It was just an old ladder leading down into who knows what death trap.

Elena looked to Reno, "Do you have a lighter?"

Reno shuffled around in his pockets before holding out the silver Zippo to Elena. "Thanks." She said before the little orange flame erupted and cast an eerie glow down the dark hatch.

A million thoughts were running through Elena's head. By the time her thoughts collected themselves and prepared to talk her out of it. Elena was already descending the ladder.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Looks like a wine-cellar…" Rude glanced around at all the liquor and some scrap pieces of metal and other junk. The place had a musty scent to it. Elena passed the lighter over to Rude so that she could explore.

"Careful not to trip" Reno teased, glancing behind his shoulder at Elena. She knew that he was just teasing her in hopes to take the edge off. Somehow, it worked.

"ShinRa!" The voice was hoarse and it bounced off the walls of the cellar. Elena felt her blood rush again and she turned quickly to see if the voice came from behind them. Reno was in the lead, his electro-mag out and twirling in his hand. Rude stood behind Elena holding the lighter, he too looked as calm as ever.

The wine cellar was organized in aisles. Dust coated each bottle, spider webs clung to corners, and it smelled awful. Elena wanted to get out of here as soon as she could.

As they exited one aisle, Elena wished she was an animal with super-sonic hearing. Where did the voice come from? Why weren't Rude and Reno talking? She wanted to bad to tug on Reno's sleeve and whisper to him about this bad feeling she had.

"Aha!" The hoarse voice felt closer now. Too close.

A dirty hand seemed to reach out from the darkness and grab Elena by the back of her head. She was pulled into the darkness, but she wasn't going to be rescued this time. She knew how to get out of this. Elena dug her heels into the ground and her hand grabbed a wine bottle from its rack.

"Elena!" Rudes' voice cut short as a loud crash was heard—the small light they had went out.

She gripped the bottle in her hand and smashed it against the wall. The man—she assumed it was a man because of his voice. He roughly let go of her hair by tossing her backwards to the ground. Just as her back hit the concrete, Elena sprung back up and chucked the broken bottle at him.

"Ugh!" Thank god she didn't miss. What a lucky shot. Elena moved forward, her hands swinging in the darkness. She grabbed a hold of fabric and kneed her capture in the stomach. The man fell to his knees and Elena wanted to tie him up but she didn't have rope or handcuffs with her.

_Crash! _

No doubt Reno and Rude could take care of themselves.

"Who are you?!" Elena demanded but, she could barely see the man's face in the darkness.

"Please don't hurt me." The man squirmed in her grip but Elena wasn't planning on letting go at any point.

She heard a rush of footsteps behind her and an orange light flickered across the man's face. He was much older than Elena expected. His eyes were brown but dull and sick with age. His hair was just a white stringy mess on top of his head.

"My name is Lucas, please don't kill me!" He said bowing his head in defeat.

Elena felt a hand on her uninjured shoulder and she let the man go. "You're gonna tell us everything, got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Why'd you attack us?" Rude asked, he roughly picked the man up and set him on his feet again.

"You're from ShinRa! I thought you had come here to kill me!"

"Why the hell would we kill you?" Reno crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of wine.

"B-because of the…well…I shouldn't tell you. What they'll do is worse than anything you could come up with…" The man's face paled at Reno's smirk.

"Elena, call Tseng." Rude instructed to the blonde. But she knew that they just didn't want her to see the darker side of the Turks. The torture…the various ways to get information…it made Elena physically ill to think about. She couldn't even imagine it.

Elena used her cell phone for light as she clumsily felt around her way back to the ladder.

"You'll tell us everything." Reno smirked as Rude held the man's arms behind him. Reno brought back his fist and…

&3&3&3&3&3

"His name is Lucas; he's one of the bar's owners." Reno sat against the wall as he held the phone between his shoulder and ear. The man known as Lucas was cleaning up his destroyed bar as Reno and Elena sat inside and kept an eye on him.

"He said some 'shady characters' have been coming into the bar and talking about ShinRa. How they should be taken down, Lucas was afraid ShinRa would think his bar was a hideout. So that's when he started having people buy memberships. Didn't help though, people still left what he called—'calling cards'."

Elena sat down beside Reno, she was eager to hear about everything Reno and Rude found out.

"Yeah, Lucas said he threw them out—but he found one. It's a ShinRa logo with red paint. Maybe we can get prints or trace the brand of paint…who knows? Rude is gonna bring that to you soon." Reno moved the phone to his other shoulder.

"Alright."

The second Reno hung up and passed the phone back to Elena, the words flew out of her mouth. "What did Tseng have to say?"

He ignored her question. "How's your shoulder?"

Elena blinked a few times before looking down at her shirt. "Doesn't hurt…I'll have it properly taken care of when we return to ShinRa."

"You've been getting pretty beat on this mission, yo." There was a soft, underlying tone to his voice. Or maybe it was just Elena's imagination. "Can I see it…?"

"Huh?" Elena felt her breath catch in her throat. Reno took that as a yes because his hands were already on Elena's blouse. "Whoa--! Reno!" Elena nearly jumped six inches in the air had she not been sitting down.

"Relax, I promise to behave." He smirked a little but the truth was that Elena trusted him completely and without fault. He helped Elena move her arm out of her sleeve and Elena did her best to make sure her blouse still covered up everything.

Surprisingly, Reno's eyes didn't move from her injury. He carefully peeled off the medical tape holding down the square piece of gauze. Her skin was dried with blood but Elena could pretend it didn't bother her.

"Clean shot." He muttered before closing back up the wound.

"I used…some materia to stop the bleeding but..." The Rookie turned her head to the side to avoid any further embarrassment. Barely any of her skin was exposed and yet to even have Reno's fingertips brushing against her made her stomach flutter. _'Oh come on, Elena! He's kissed you, flirted with you, but you won't be another notch on his belt. Pull it together. Sure, admit to yourself that you're just a tiny bit attracted to Reno. But that's no reason to start blushing or stuttering…just…nothing has changed. Nothing. Got it?'_

"Yeah, you'll need stitches." His words pulled her away from her confused thoughts.

"Oh…" Elena quickly tucked her arm back into her blouse and through the sleeve, her hands re-adjusting the fabric and re-buttoning. Reno let out a soft chuckle and got to his feet.

"Let's get back to ShinRa…" Reno held out his hand and Elena gratefully took hold of it.

"Lucas." His attention was on the frazzled man with a now-broken nose and a few missing teeth. In Reno's opinion, they could have done a lot worse. "I think you should shut down your bar."

* * *

A/N: Hmmm…it's been such a long time since I wrote this. It's obvious now that Elena is no longer denying her physical attraction to Reno, but she's a smart girl! She won't be jumping into bed with him anytime soon. (;

Reno…well…let's leave him to be a mystery.

Reviews are appreciated…I'm trying to remember where the hell I left this story off…okay, thanks so much guys for your patience and support!


	6. Training Rookies

A/N: Another chapter! I have about ten more chapters outlined, for those who didn't know…that's how I do my stories. I outline each chapter so I know what is going to happen and how to hint at things and tie up loose ends. It works nicely. I can't just "wing it" cause then I forget stuff!

Ahhh, let's do this!

* * *

_Previously…_

"Let's get back to ShinRa…" Reno held out his hand and Elena gratefully took hold of it.

"Lucas." His attention was on the frazzled man with a now-broken nose and a few missing teeth. In Reno's opinion, they could have done a lot worse. "I think you should shut down your bar."

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena rubbed her shoulder, the wound was still tender but the medical staff assured she would make a full recovery. Reno had his feet on his desk and he was napping—classic. Rude was scratching away with a ShinRa pen on some reports. She felt…anxious for some strange reason.

The phone ringing on her desk made her jump. Rude looked to her but Elena quickly shook her head and answered. Reno grumbled in his sleep.

"Hello?"

"_Elena, could you please come down to the lobby?"_

"Yes sir!" She didn't know why Tseng needed her there but, she wasn't going to deny such a simple request. It wasn't like she was doing anything important, the woman always kept herself up to date on her reports. Had she been sensing a phone call? Maybe that was why she felt anxious. Oh, enough thinking! She had to go.

"Elena!" The voice called out right when the elevator doors opened.

"Seth?" Elena briskly walked forward, seeing the man standing with Tseng. His hair was still hidden by the beanie he wore. This time though, it was red rather than the black she usually saw him with.

"I came to take you up on your offer…" Seth explained quickly, his gray eyes flickering over to Tseng, who simply nodded.

"You understand the risks…? You could die, Seth. You could be asked to complete orders that may not be…morally just."

"I know, I know!" Seth rubbed the back of his neck. "Allen was my friend, he was a good kid. If busting my ass to become a Turk helps to save him or find him...I'll do it."

"Excellent." Tseng said before giving his full attention to Elena. The female felt her cheeks flush suddenly, she was so proud! She got Seth to join the Turks! Even if it was just a ploy to weasel out the threat…it didn't matter! She did something right!

"Elena, for the next week you will be training Seth. I assume that will be satisfactory since you know each other already. Seth, please follow me. I have some paper work you must fill out…" Tseng turned on his heel and Seth followed with a grin on his face.

**Day One:**

'_Today, I'm going to be a mentor. I guess Reno can't keep calling me a Rookie…I just have to remember to keep acting…'_

Seth sat in Tseng's office waiting for Elena. He pulled at the cuffs of his suit, it was strange to wear something like this when he was used to wearing layers of clothing to keep warm in the Slums.

"I expected your hair to be some ridiculous color…" Elena said when she entered the room.

Seth gave her an easy smile, it was better to smile than to frown, right?

His hair was golden; he wore it short and shaggy. The choppy style was only because it was pointless to waste gil on a haircut when he could spend the gil for food.

"So, m'am…" He chuckled a little, "What's first on the agenda today?

Elena giggled, "Please, just call me Elena."

"Okay! Elena. What's my training for today?"

"I figured it would be best to keep it simple…" Elena said and, he had to admire how she stood in that suit. He felt out of place and a little awkward while she looked so confident but, maybe it was just a side-effect of being a Rookie.

"Come on, I'll show you around." She held the door open for Seth and he followed like an eager puppy. His energy was refreshing; he was always asking questions or smiling. Elena felt herself relax—but only a little. She showed him to the training room where an obstacle course was set up.

"Okay, Seth. Turks have to be in top-shape at all times…" Her mind drifted to the lanky form of her superior. She idly wondered if he was in top-shape. _Elena! Focus! _"Tomorrow you're going to be timed when you run this course."

"_Elena…I like you in shorts."_

"_Shut up, Reno."_

"_Careful, I'm the one with the timer."_

"_Whatever."_

"_Alright Rookie, get ready, set, go!"_

"What about today? What will we do today?"

"I'll wait here while you get changed…" Elena took a seat on one of the metal benches against the wall of the large gym. "Then you will run the course at your own pace."

"Okay!" Seth punched his gloved fist into the air and took off into the locker room.

&3&3&3&3

**Day Two:**

'_I expected Seth to be fast but, he ran the course—nearly beating Reno's record! This is just a guess; we'll see when he runs it today.'_

Seth stretched his arms over his head, Elena standing behind him in her Turk attire with the stopwatch in hand.

"Get ready…set…go!" Then Seth was running forward, diving onto the floor and crawling under a net of ropes. Elena watched him with something similar to pride swelling in her chest. Even if he never would be a Turk…even if this was all an act…

_For the first time, I feel like I'm doing something right. I'm doing something important. I'm not just the blonde rookie; I'm a superior for once._

"Great job!" Elena congratulated him, though he was drenched in sweat and panting like a dog, he did an amazing run.

"You almost beat Reno's record." Seth was bent over with his hands on his knees.

"Thanks!" Seth gave her a tired smile before hanging his head down again, trying to regain his breath.

"We'll try again tomorrow."

Seth fell over at that point and cursed Elena with a mumbling breath.

She just giggled.

&3&3&3&3

**Day Four:**

'_It's strange…something about Seth puts me at ease. He's so carefree and eager to learn whatever he can to help Allen. I keep reminding myself about the mission. I haven't seen Reno or Rude in four days. I hope Tseng is keeping them busy…'_

"Where the fuck has Elena been?" Reno asked his long-time partner.

"She's training Seth…the man connected to Allen, the one who placed a faulty bomb at ShinRa…"

"Oh right." Reno yawned and his aqua eyes went to her empty desk. It was organized, clean, and if anyone asked—he could have said that desk had been empty for years.

Rude looked up from his work, his dark brown eyes hidden by dark shades. _You miss her. _

"Don't give me that look, Rude." Reno snapped, well aware of his partners' non-verbal language. "It's boring without someone to bother." Reno folded his arms across his chest and snorted. It really was a little dull without Elena around.

"Stupid Rookie taking up all of 'Laney's time! She has shit to do yet, Tseng is making her train someone who doesn't even matter." He mumbled and blew a crimson bang out of his face.

"We could go see what she's up to." Rude suggested knowing that Reno would turn down the offer, unable to admit that he missed Elena.

"Nah."

"It would get us out of paperwork." Rude also knew that this excuse would get Reno to his feet.

"I like the way you think, Rude." Reno jumped up from his chair and headed for the door, his partner a few steps behind him.

&3&3&3

"Why don't you ever wear shorts when you train, 'Laney?" Reno said when he entered the sparring room.

The blonde whipped her head around, her ears tinted pink with embarrassment. She sent him a glare and crossed her arms. Rude took a moment to look at Reno again, the redhead was grinning with his hands in his pockets and a slouch to his pose. _I haven't seen him look this happy in days. He's already enjoying himself._

"Shut it!" She snapped back, the ShinRa logo on her gray T-shirt was covered by her arms.

"That's Reno and Rude?" Seth piped up from his spot on the floor. He was sporting a rather nice bruise on his cheek.

"In the flesh." Reno answered with a swagger in his step as he walked to stand beside Elena. He threw an arm around her shoulders and smirked. Elena just rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

_Possessive. Reno, you have no idea what your body language tells people who pay attention. Elena is…more in control with what she lets her body say. To the untrained eye, someone may think she's annoyed with Reno. But, her hip is cocked slightly to the left to brush against his. She enjoys having him close—whether or not she realizes it…_

"Elena's mentioned you guys." Seth said, raising an eyebrow at the redhead's actions. "I almost beat your obstacle course record."

Reno looked to Elena and she nodded.

"Too bad I've never run the course sober." Reno smirked again and let Elena go. He went and leaned against the wall next to Rude. Elena gave Seth another few minutes of rest before she helped him to his feet and they resumed their sparring match.

Rude glanced over at Reno, watching the man's eyes that were glued to Elena. Every punch, kick, dodge she made, Reno reacted. Sometimes, his smirk would twitch—he was proud. Other times, especially when Elena got hit, his brows would knit together for a smooth second. He was worried.

_Affection, everything you do—I can't believe I didn't notice it before. I thought you were just teasing her or flirting with her to get in her pants. Reno, do you realize how deep this affection lies? Or will you ignore it and hope it goes away? Or deny it and hope she finds another?_

"What do you think about him?" Reno asked his partner.

"Elena seems fond of him."

_She does seem fond of him. She smiles but the smile does not reach her eyes. I don't think Reno can tell when she's acting. He's the one who said he couldn't read her at all. _

"I said you, not Laney."

"He's smart."

_I don't trust him. However, he is only a stepping stone to reach our true goal to find out who is after ShinRa. It's only a matter of time before the threats get violent._

Reno rolled his eyes, seeing, as he wasn't getting an answer out of his long-time partner.

"What do you think?" Rude prompted. He knew the answer already.

"I don't like him." Reno answered bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rude smirked '_because he hangs around Elena? He can make her smile. You're jealous.' _Those words never left Rude's mouth. _'Not only are you jealous, for the past few years—Elena has been –your- Rookie. To see her spending time with someone else is driving you insane._

"You did amazing!" Elena beamed with pride at her 'student', who was a Turk in the making.

"Really?"

Elena just nodded with encouragement. Seth grinned at her, taking her hand with his own gloved one. "Sorry for the cut." He said looking at her knuckles and Elena just shook her head.

"It's fine." Elena pulled her hand away from Seth's. She suddenly felt…strange…with Reno standing a few feet away. She felt like she had to hold back and not let Seth touch her. It seemed so ridiculous!

_Oh great, I'm already confusing myself about pointless things._

_Focus on the mission, Elena!_

Elena turned her head and saw that Reno was gone. "Wher—"

"Probably went to get a drink." Rude answered pushing himself away from the wall. _'I wonder if he realizes how jealous he is. He just stormed out of here the second Seth took Elena's hand.'_

&3&3&3&3&3

Tifa ran a rag along the bar, Rude and a few others were sitting around and talking. The sounds of the bar were a mixture of soft music and the mummer of voices.

"Where's Reno…?"

"He must have gone somewhere else to drink." Rude set his empty glass down and shook his head when Tifa offered another.

"Really? Is it because of…?" She tilted her head at the booth where Elena and the golden-blonde haired boy were sitting. Elena was drinking some fruity drink and Seth had water, they were talking to each other, Elena giggled and Seth smiled.

"Yes." Rude said with a small nod, "I don't think he realizes that Elena acting friendly to Seth is a part of earning his trust and thus, earning information from him. "

"So…he's jealous?"

"His jealously is blinding him. He _knows _what Elena's mission is but…"

"Turks have it tough, don't they?" Tifa sighed and leaned against the bar, her chocolate eyes on the pair. Rude just nodded once more and asked Tifa about Marlene and Denzel. He no longer wished to talk about Elena and Seth; he wasn't the type to gossip.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

**Day Five:**

'_Last day of training Seth before I hand him over to Tseng. We are going to run the shooting range for a little bit…I hope I do alright! I'm the superior, I have to impress!'_

Elena was at the shooting range early because she wanted to get some practice shots in. The door opened and she turned her head, expecting to see the grinning shaggy haired male but instead…Reno.

"Whaddya doin'?" He stood beside her, seeing the gun in her hands. She stood without her Turk jacket, her tie slightly loosened and her blonde hair pulled back with a headband.

"Practicing before Seth arrives." She answered honestly; her eyes were watching his as they moved up and down her body. Holy shit. Reno was…checking her out?

She felt a little daring, so these words came out of her mouth. "See something you like?"

His gaze moved and met hers. _Possibly._

"Hey Elena!" The door opened and Reno let out a huff of disappointment. The first minute he got alone with Elena all week and Seth had to interrupt. He really hated the non-Turk. Elena took a reflexive step back and waved with her free hand.

"Ready to do some target practice?" She smiled and passed her gun over to Seth.

"Are you staying, Reno?" He asked the redhead but the man gave him a hard glare.

"No. Got shit to do." His piercing gaze went from Seth's face to Elena's, "See ya."

&3&3&3&3&3&3

'_I don't understand what's up with Reno. He's acting so strange lately. I hope he isn't sick.'(Elena)_

'_If Reno is complaining about paperwork, he's complaining about how quiet the office is. I hope Tseng gives them a mission soon—it's upsetting to see him so stressed out.'(Rude)_

'_Five days of training and I could get used to this Turk thing! It's pretty easy! Elena is wicked nice, I'm glad she's my mentor.' (Seth)_

'_I hope we get a mission soon…I hate bein' stuck in the office yo.' (Reno)_

&3&3&3&3&3

Tseng looked up from the file, a ghost of a smile on his face; the paint that was found could be traced.

They finally had a lead.

* * *

A/N: Yay for a new chapter! I don't really like this chapter…except for when I was writing Rude. Buuuut, yes! Reno is jealous! Next chapter will be a little fluffy...just so you know. ::grins::

Please review! Things are going to start getting intense!


	7. Watery Sunshine

A/N: I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter. ;~; I was so bummed!

Anyways, on to the fluff?

Oh and if you check mah profile, there's a poll. Totally unrelated to this story but if you read Apartment15B, then it pertains to you. Or you can just vote anyways. Lulz.

Also! It gets kinda dark at a certain point(I swear, it like did it on its own)...so...just a slight warning.

* * *

_Previously,_

Tseng looked up from the file, a ghost of a smile on his face; the paint that was found could be traced.

_They finally had a lead._

&3&3&3&3&3

The four Turks and the non-Turk sat in the briefing room. Rude noticed that Reno, rather than sit next to his partner, immediately took the seat next to Elena. _'Jealous fool, he doesn't want Seth anywhere near her. Possessive, jealous, fool.'_

"Glad you all could make it." Tseng said, standing at the head of the table. Reno grinned a little and kicked Elena's foot under the table. He noticed her lips twitch into a frown and she lightly slapped his leg. "I believe we have found a lead..." Tseng continued—oblivious to the two Turks fighting under the table.

Reno slapped her leg back, so (she really shouldn't be encouraging him, but she can't help it), she slapped him back. Elena couldn't keep her eyes on Tseng because she had to constantly watch her own body to see where Reno was going to hit. He pinched her hip and Elena fidgeted, smacking his hand away.

This is the longest amount of time that Elena has been in a room with Reno and here she is _fighting _with him like they're in preschool. Elena puts her hands in her lap and interlaces her fingers so she won't be tempted. Take that, Red!

"The three of you will go to the destination and..." Reno huffed slightly, oh she was playing that game now, huh?

Rude wanted to sit somewhere else. He was right across from the two. Elena kept twitching, Reno was smirking and his hands wouldn't stay still. Ridiculous. They were like _kids _and Rude was the one stuck babysitting.

"Ah!" Elena jumped and all eyes were suddenly on the blonde. She shot a nasty glare to Reno who looked at her with fake-innocence in his eyes.

"Problem?" Tseng asked and Elena shook her head, her ears bright pink as she crossed her arms and gave her leader her full attention. The stupid redhead on her left tried to grab her butt! She decided that she would never sit beside him again.

"Continue, sir. You said the three of us...?" She secretly hoped it would just be her, Reno, and Rude—like the old days.

"Seth will remain here, it's time to teach you the basis of all our work..." Seth raised a blonde eyebrow.

"Paperwork." Reno chuckled under his breath and he and Elena shared an understanding glance. Paperwork had to be the worst part of being a Turk. Elena always got it done, Rude did his share, but Reno...maybe he could convince Seth to do his part of it. Tseng probably wouldn't allow it.

"The files are on your desk." Tseng gave a nod, which was the universal sign for "dismissed" in the Turk world.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"I cannot believe you!" Elena fumed throwing her arms into the air.

"I thought ya knew me better than that." Reno teased, the pair following Rude down the corridor.

"What if I got in trouble?" Elena's face was pink with anger, something Reno found more amusing than threatening. "What would I have said to our superior!" She angrily stabbed the elevator button with her thumb and turned to face Reno once more.

Despite her anger, it was _really_ difficult to stay upset at him. He always got this impish look in his eyes and this boyish grin that made him look mischievous and innocent at the same time. He was standing there with his hands in his pockets, grinning, while Rude stood beside him like a statue.

She huffed and crossed her arms while waiting for an answer.

The elevator chimed and Rude was the first one in, brushing past Elena who was still glaring at Reno. _'I swear they really are kids. At least this argument will lessen the tension between them.'_

"Well?" She resisted the urge to stamp her foot.

"Were ya talkin' to me, 'Laney?" There was that boyish grin again. Ugh! Elena wanted to scream and strangle him. He _embarrassed_ her in front of Tseng! The last time that happened was when...well, that wasn't too bad...they were just close to kissing. Elena flushed and gave up on this argument, spinning around to catch the elevator before Rude decided to close the doors.

"You coming?"

"Nah. I'm gonna head to the helicopter, yo. Destroy my folder with the mission details in it. I don't want anyone takin' a peek." _mainly Seth. _His inner voice added.

"If I find it, I will." The elevator doors shut.

Reno ran a hand through his hair once his two teammates were out of sight. What was with that blush before Elena went into the elevator? _On this mission, I'll try to read her. Rude says it easy..._ "Aha!" Reno exclaimed aloud to himself. _She mighta been thinkin' about that time I kissed her or in Tseng's office when she tried to kiss me. She was the one leaning forward, not me._ Reno smirked at the memory and then turned on his heel to head up to the top floor.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Costa Del Sol, here we come baby." Reno said adjusting his head-set. Rude was to his right and Elena was sitting in the back. His hands flipped a few switches, his face a cool mask of excitement. He always impressed her when he flew his helicopter. Mainly because Reno was so damn immature and childish sometimes...

But, when push came to shove—he knew his stuff. Elena's eyes moved down to the file on her lap.

**Name:** Simon Mendoza

**Age: **42

**Location:** Costa Del Sol / Owner of a paint shop that sells art work of the island to travelers / Connection to ShinRa? No previous history with ShinRa. Refer to page 15C form 2 to update any information on this person.

Elena ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. ShinRa...did they have access to everyone's files? They couldn't have information on everyone in the world! Maybe Tseng just could make some phone calls and get information from anyone he wanted...ShinRa had connections...so...

Elena sighed and opted for staring out the window at the clouds, she didn't want to think about it.

"_Reno! Your...god...what happened?" She struggled to maintain the level of her voice—she couldn't sound too panicked. The redhead plopped down on his stomach, the blue fabric of his suit drenched in blood, his own or his enemies...Elena didn't want to ask._

"_Help me out here, Rookie."He muttered from his spot on the floor. It was all so unexpected! She wasn't prepared for Reno to just show up at her house. She carefully pulled the jacket from his body, her stomach twisted when she saw the gash on his back and the white shirt torn._

"_R-reno?" She peered down at him, it was her third month on the job after being set for Reno's replacement. She never thought that she would stay a Turk, she thought after he was healed, they would shove her to a desk job. She figured she did something right to be able to stay._

"_I'm alive."His words brought a rush of relief. She couldn't have a Turk dying in her entryway floor, now could she?_

"_O-okay...I'll be right back!" Elena hurried to throw the jacket away, there was no way he could wear it now. She went to her bathroom and pulled as many supplies as she could into her arms. She pooled the supplies by her fallen Turk and then went to get towels and a bucket of water._

"_Reno?"_

"_Still here." He responded even though his eyes were closed. _

"_Can I ask you...a question..."_

"_Mhm."_

"_Why did you come here...?" She couldn't understand the logic. She was flattered and proud that her superior came here—even though he was a total pain at the office and he was constantly making rude remarks. It was nice to consider he trusted her enough to put his life in her hands. 'I just...can't screw up'. _

"_Your place was closer than Rude's and I don't like hospitals."His eyes opened and struggled to look at her. _

"_Okay..." Now it made sense, he didn't come here because he wanted to. He came here out of convenience. She wasn't so flattered and proud anymore. She cut the shirt the rest of the way and cleaned the wound, sometimes hearing a wince escape Reno's throat. She kept blinking away tears...why did she feel so disappointed? She wanted to impress him, Tseng, and Rude so badly._

"_Reno, you need stitches..." She sighed softly, she cleaned up the wound but it was deep and just wrapping it wouldn't be a good fix. Temporary, at best. _

"_Left pocket...of my jacket...cure materia." talking seemed to be difficult for him to do, so Elena 'shushed' him and scurried off to get the jacket she threw away. _

_15 minutes later..._

"_Amazing." Elena breathed, the wound had healed but it was still an ugly rouge mark on his back. _

"_I am pretty awesome." He smirked and slowly got to his feet, Elena jerked her head away and glued her eyes to the floor. She did not need to see her superior shirtless. Now now, not ever. _

"_Good job, Rookie." He ruffled her hair but Elena made no sudden movements. She was just focusing on the floorboards...she heard his footsteps and then the sound of her front door opening, closing, faint footsteps...Gone._

_Elena wrinkled her nose at the blood on her floor. "I wonder if he'll ever tell me how it happened..."_

"LANEY!" Elena's eyes snapped open, her chocolate eyes meeting his aquamarine ones. His face was directly in front of her own. She didn't dare move a muscle. He backed away with a smirk.

"Sorry, dozed off." She yawned, glad for the sudden space between them.

"Have a nice dream?"

"More of a memory, really." She answered and then wanted to slap herself. _Why! Why did I tell him that!_ Reno's interest was instantly spiked and he leaned in closer—how else was he going to read her face?

"A-h...um..." Elena busied her hands with organizing the file on her lap. "It was nothing special." She said hoping to convince him. It was such a vivid memory—even more vivid in her dream. The colors felt so bright, so alive.

"I never did look at his file..." Reno muttered, his hand touching hers as he slipped the folder from her fingers. Elena was trying to remember what she wanted to ask him. It was at the very end of her dream, just lingering beyond the surface of her awake mind. Think, Elena, think!

"What happened!" She blurted out—Reno didn't even flinch.

"While you were asleep? Oh we ran into some flying chocobos—I didn't even know they could fly. So we hit them with the chopper blades, ya know, kinda hungry and-"

"No! The night you came to my house!" She cut him off, she was afraid the memory would slip away if she didn't ask him right now. Reno grinned and closed the folder, it had lost his interest the second he pulled it away from 'Laney.

"Oh? Refresh my memory, sweetheart. What _did _happen?" All sexual innuendos implied, he read her face carefully. First she was embarrassed, noted by the way her ears tinted pink. Then she was just annoyed by his comment, noted by the way she rolled her eyes.

"Pevert!" She muttered before continuing "...three months after I joined the Turks, you showed up at my home with your back all torn up...and you never told me..." Now she was thoughtful, by the way her lower lip stuck out ever-so slightly. Damn! How did he not notice this before? Elena nearly wrote her emotions on her forehead. She was still such a Rookie.

"You really wanna know?" He lowered his voice as he leaned closer and Elena, hesitantly, leaned forward. She really _did_ want to know. She nodded slowly afraid to break eye-contact with the red haired Turk in front of her. Reno remembered that night just as clearly as she had. She was still as green as ever. Still trying to impress him, Rude, and Tseng. Still talking far too much. Still an over-eager, nervous, mess.

"What's in it for me?" Reno asked with a smirk, he watched her eyes narrow and darken in anger. She hated it when he did this! What could she possibly have to offer him? Elena shifted in her seat, she didn't have much Gil on her.

"I don't have anything." She sighed, unaware that her breath ghosted over Reno's lips. That's when the blonde realized how incredibly close he was. She could feel his breath and his nose just barely touched her own. _No! This is Reno! He's just...messing with your head!_ Elena wished she could back up but she was sitting and there was no where to go. He always found a way to trap her.

"How about this...if ya ever see the scar, then ask me." He backed away, pleased with the shocked expression on her face. How would she ever see the scar? It was on his back! Unless...Elena's face paled as she was confronted with the mental image of Reno shirtless.

"Stop messing with me!" She grabbed the folder from his lap and whacked him with it. Reno just laughed at her outburst. Things felt normal between them again.

"I'm back." Rude announced and the two Turks in the back of the helicopter turned towards the voice. Rude raised an eyebrow and sighed, "You didn't even notice I was gone, did you?"

"Nope!" Reno declared joyfully, "So did ya find the place?"

Rude nodded, "Let's go."

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

The building was painted around the sides with palm trees and coconuts—even a few pineapples with sunglasses. The windows were open to receive the oceans misty breeze. The door chimed when the three Turks walked inside. It smelled of paint. Canvas's of landscapes hung all over the walls and shelves were decorated with painted sea-shells, glass bottles with ships inside them, boxes of sand that proclaimed to give relaxation.

"It looks more like a tourist shop to me." Elena muttered with Reno right by her side.

Rude was at the front of the store near the cash register. _'Reno, do you even notice how you follow her? How everything she does or says, you instantly pick up on. You have always stood with a slouch or a lean but, when Elena is near...it's like your body gravitates towards her.' _The bald man shook his head and tapped the bell on the desk.

"One moment!" A voice called out from the back. A chubby hand pushed aside the decorated beads hanging from the door frame. When the owner, Simon, appeared Elena was not surprised at his appearance. He had a dark tan like most of the residents in this town. He was a short, chubby, and overall round man with beady little eyes and a tiny mouth. His colorful shirt of blues and greens had two buttons unclasped to show off his hairy chest.

"Hello!" He greeted the two males, his beady little eyes going to Elena. "Hello..." his voice came out slower, making Elena feel _very _uncomfortable_. _Reno and Rude shared a glance as if to say _"this guy is a total sleazebag."_

"My, my, I don't see many blondes around here." Simon acted as if the two intimidating men weren't even in the same room. It was just himself and the pretty, cute blonde. "Although, it makes me wonder if you're a natural blonde...hmm..."

"I'm a Turk!" Elena said suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "I ask that you treat me with some respect since I have shown respect to you and your tacky shop." Reno wanted to hug Elena and ruffle her hair. That was freaking awesome. She could be a real spitfire when she wanted to be. Elena folded her arms over her chest and Reno and Rude shared another glance. _"Rookie is growing up."_

"Ah...I was wondering why you were wearing suits in such lovely weather..." Simon sighed and took out a paper fan from under the desk. He proceeded to fan himself, pursing his tiny mouth in thought. "So? Female Turk...which one of these gentlemen did you sleep with to get your position?" He grinned, his teeth looking far too big in such a small mouth.

His words felt like a bucket of cold water on her head. She would never do that! How dare the man assume such a foul thing! She was so wrapped up in her rage, her mind whirling with responses, that she didn't even realize Reno had moved.

"Reno." Rude warned his partner that had Simon by the collar of his ugly green and blue shirt. Elena's mind quickly processed what had just happened. Simon made a crude comment, she was stunned, and Reno was hissing something into the man's face.

"Threats, hm? Empty?"

"Turks don't make empty threats." Reno nearly growled, he was getting tired of this cocky bastard. He wasn't just doing this because the man had said that to Elena. Reno was a Turk, Turks had pride and Turks looked after fellow Turks. He hurt Elena's pride and like a ripple effect—he hurt Reno's pride. He disrespected Reno. He disrespected _The Turks._

"Neither do I." Simon countered, slanting his beady eyes. Reno didn't loosen his grip, if his eyes could light fires, Simone would be a smoldering heap on the floor. Simon lifted his fan...

"Reno!" Elena didn't even think, her body acting on it's own. Her voice had caused the ace Turk to loose his grip—she shoved Reno away from Simon. That's when Rude and Reno realized at the same time _why _she had done that. The folded paper fan that Simon was holding had four hidden blades.

Elena had just saved Reno's life or at least saved him from serious harm.

"Observant and pretty, my, my, I may have to keep you." Simon said with a lecherous grin. Rude's hidden eyes went to Reno, seeing the redhead clench his jaw in hidden anger. Elena was standing so close to Reno that her sleeve was brushing against his arm. She wasn't _afraid_. She just didn't like that mans grin—it was more of a leer and it reminded her too freaking much of the filthy pimp; Don Corneo.

"How about you give us a log of all your customers. A shop like this must have records." Rude figured he was the only one fit to negotiate. Reno wanted to rip Simons' throat out and Elena would rather place a few bullets of her own than talk or get near Simon.

"Records that you will never see." Simon spat and Rude noticed the yellow tint on his teeth. The man must smoke. "However...I'd be more than willing to trade." Simon moved his gaze to Elena once more. She felt like snakes were coiling around her skin even though she was covered in her black suit.

"A person is hardly worth those documents." Elena said when she found her voice. She very faintly felt Reno's hand touch her own. It was just a butterfly touch, light and free. He probably didn't mean to, it was an accident. So why? Why did that one feather-touch make Elena feel like all the snakes coiling around her suddenly died? She pushed away her thoughts before she said anything stupid.

"Then...I guess I have no need for any of you." Simon turned his back and Rude felt like there was someone—"Elena!" "Rude!" "Reno!" Three voices shot into the air in unison.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena numbly thanked the nurse as she placed the ice on her head. They were ambushed by Simons' henchmen. When she was knocked out, a sense of fear had gripped her heart. She had trust in Reno and Rude but, what if they were overpowered? What if she was captured? What if...

An image of Simons' smile burned in her mind's eye.

Elena trembled, "Do you need a blanket?" An attentive nurse asked, her eyes briefly looking up from Elena's chart.

"No, thank you." She had just woken up at the clinic. The nurse told her that a bald man had carried her inside and said that she was mugged. So, Elena went with that story. Rude must have been relatively unharmed—the man was good at hand-to-hand combat. He probably wiped the floor with those worth-two-Gil henchmen! Elena felt a little better at that thought.

_What about Reno?_

"If you'd like, you can sit in the waiting room..." The nurse offered an understanding smile. Elena gratefully took it. She did not want to sit in this examination room when others could use it and she wasn't even terribly injured. Her back would be bruised and her head hurt...she was fine. The last thing she remembered was seeing Reno out of the corner of her eye get his arm grabbed and twisted.

_I am sure they are both alright..._

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Nononono! Please! No!" Simon cried out as Rude poured the foul-smelling liquid on him.

"Not in the mood for a smoke?" A voice practically sneered from the darkness. Simon struggled but he was bound to the chair.

"I will tell you everything! Please!" Simons' beady little eyes that had looked at Elena with perverted interest were now swelling with tears.

"We have all the documents we need. You were expecting us but, I think ya forgot _who you were messing with._"

"They will find you! My men will hunt you down!"

"What men?" Rude asked, raising his eyebrow slightly.

"Monsters! MONSTERS!"

"We're the monsters?" Reno smirked, tossing the file under the man's feet. "All those girls you killed..." Reno shook his head, "We're the monsters?" He repeated and let the words hang in the air.

"They were nobodies!" Simon was crying, salty tears pouring down his tanned face. "Nobody missed them!"

"Nobody? Every. Single. Girl. Was. Here. On. Vacation!" He enunciated each word by splashing a little of the oil onto Simons' face. The man was whimpering apologizes, making bull-shit excuses. Rude came over with the duct-tape.

"Please!" Simon tried one last time but, he knew this would be the end. Rude wrapped the tape around his head once.

"Sooo...ya like cigars..." Reno twirled the blade in his hand. Simon shook his head fiercely. The two Turks shared a glance, no words needed as always. Rude held the man's head perfectly still and Simon was afraid to move—what if moving caused the Turk to break his neck? Reno cut a small hole into the tape and slid the cigar into it.

"Consider it...a gift. A _trade_." He whispered darkly, aqua eyes narrowing until they were slits. Rude stepped back and Reno flipped his zippo open. The little orange flame jumped and danced before it settled on the end of the cigar. Reno quickly moved back, the hot ashes falling onto Simons' lap.

The Turks quickly climbed the stairs, smoke slowly engulfing the basement as Simon smoked his last cigar.

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Rude!" Her heart nearly leaped from her chest when she saw him. "Reno!-wait...your...arm." Reno had managed to make a sling using his jacket. They both smelled like smoke but not cigarette smoke...fire smoke.

"I'll be back in a bit, yo." He winked at Elena before some random nurse pushed him away. Rude and Elena stood in the waiting room just staring at one another.

She was afraid to ask but, she wanted to know what happened while she was here. "Rude?"

"..."

"Rude, tell me." Elena wasn't sure if she really wanted to know. If she didn't know it would feel like they were keeping something from her. If she did know, maybe she wouldn't sleep tonight. Then again, she might sleep better...just knowing she was safe from the creep.

"Reno and I took care of Simon. He's having a smoke and thinking about what he said." Rude took a seat on one of the plastic chairs. She let her mind digest the words and she swallowed the tightness in her throat. At least she didn't have to worry about some pervert capturing her and hanging her on a cliff again.

Elena quietly sat beside him and together they waited for Reno...

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Let's go get a hotel or some shit. The locals say it's gonna storm pretty bad and I sure as hell ain't flying in that type of weather." Exact words when Reno came into the waiting room. Elena eyed him suspiciously. His arm was in a proper sling now, Rude was ironically enough—the first one to speak.

"You can't fly with that on." He said, pointing to the cast.

"For three weeks, I know. I could do it if I tried." Reno shrugged off the comment.

"..."

"Fine! Can we leave now? I hate hospitals."

"It's a clinic." Elena said with a small smirk, she was just relived he was okay.

"Shut it, 'Laney." He returned the smirk.

_'Do you see the guilt in her eyes, Reno? How she takes the blame for this one small injury because it was you—always you—protecting her. Even though she had a fight of her own happening, she still worried enough for your well being and my own. I don't think I will let Elena see the cut on my side. No need for her to feel more guilty.'_

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

It was pouring by the time the three reached a local and nearby hotel. Rude mumbled something about needing a drink, Reno mumbled something about needing a smoke, and Elena mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom.

All three Turks went their separate ways.

When Elena exited the bathroom, she asked the receptionist where people could smoke. "Oh, funny. A man with red hair just asked me the same question a few minutes ago." The woman, who was in her mid-thirties, suddenly gave Elena a knowing smile—like she had solved some great mystery. Elena tugged at the zipper of her jacket.

"Yes, well...where?"

"The courtyard is the best place, should shield you from the rain and there's grass and plants...down that hall and to your left—can't miss it."She smiled another one of those weird know-it-all smiles.

"Thanks."

Once in the courtyard, which was just the space in the middle of the rectangular building, Elena searched for red hair. There were a few potted plants with cigarette-butts sticking out of them. It didn't take her long to find him sitting in the rain on the poorly-taken care of grass.

Elena stared at Reno, the rain...she hated it. It reminded her of how much she could blend into the walls. For so long she tried to stand out against her sister. She sat next to him in the wet grass. The cigarette in his mouth was already burnt out. He didn't even flinch or acknowledge her presence. He wasn't mad, was he?

"Yo." He greeted. He wasn't mad...she could tell from his voice.

"Hi..." Elena responded awkwardly, wrapping her arms around herself in some weak attempt to hold in some of her warmth.

"Reno...I'm sorry you got hurt because of me." She said quietly before resting her chin on her knees.

"Eh. It's nothing." He said glancing over at his now-soaked companion.

His arm was in a sling because his wrist was broken. His only complaint was that he wasn't going to be able to fly his helicopter for a few weeks. That would mean Rude would be flying them out of Costa Del Sol and Reno really loved his helicopter. He trusted Rude with it but, he trusted himself more.

"No, Reno. It's not...I made a stupid...rookie mistake. You could have died." Reno rolled his eyes at her words. "I shouldn't have let him get under my skin like that—I should have been more observant."

"Don't start blaming yourself." He paused for a moment, "And do ya really think those assholes coulda killed me?"

She smiled, despite the awful feeling in her chest. "No. You're too stubborn to die."

"Exactly."

They fell into a companionable silence. Elena sighed and looked up at the gray clouds, the rain sliding down her face. Reno wasn't watching the air in front of him anymore. He was watching the girl to his right, the blonde Turk that felt guilty over his injury. She could be _such _a Rookie. Had she forgotten that her eyes catching the blade in Simons' fan had saved his life?

Leave it to Elena to focus on her mistakes rather than her accomplishments.

"You okay?" He asked, wondering why he was even asking.

"Good. I'm good. My back hurts like hell, but...no worse than you." She hadn't moved an inch. Her eyes were closed and her head tilted to the sky. Reno smirked and copied her pose. His cigarette fell out of his mouth and to the wet grass. Reno stuck his tongue out to catch the raindrops.

Elena giggled when she opened her eyes. "You are so immature."

He just shrugged, not moving, not opening his eyes, and Elena sighed loudly before coping him this time. Two Turks catching raindrops on their tongues.

_'Today...has by far been one of the strangest.' _She mused _'I guess...it's all being part of a Turk, right? Expect the unexpected, enjoy the little moments of sanity, and always look out for your teammates.'_

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

"There is one double room left, sir." the receptionist said to the bald man with the sunglasses. She took his credit card and gave him the room key. "Who are you staying with? Should I be expecting another guest?" She asked politely.

"No." Rude shook his head slightly, his eyes moving in the direction of the courtyard. The receptionist somehow picked up on this tiny detail.

"Oh! That's right...you came in with the blonde girl and redhead." She nodded, smiling, a perfect white smile to contrast with her sun-kissed skin.

"Thank you." Rude left and he felt his little plan was safe—the receptionist didn't seem the type to ruin such a perfect plan like this. He had a certain brunette bar maid to thank for the idea. Her phone call made Rude's heart swell, she was just calling to check up and see how everything went. She didn't ask details, Tifa never asked details, and Rude was grateful for that.

He would tell her someday.

"_You should get them a room together—you said the other day that they are dancing around each other. I know, I know, Reno loves the chase." _

"_Hm."_

"_But...think of it...as a friendly push in the right direction." She laughed a little then, making Rude crack a rare smile._

&3&3&3&3&3

The receptionist gave the two a small frown. "I'm sorry but there are no separate bed rooms left."

"What?" Elena's outburst caused a few heads to turn.

"Looks like we're bunking together." Reno threw his arm around her shoulders but Elena quickly slipped away from him.

"You're sleeping on the floor." She muttered as Reno handed over his credit card to the receptionist. Both Turks missed the quick smile the receptionist gave them.

The room was standard, nothing special, dark green walls and brown curtains. She was exhausted from the day's events—she just wanted to sleep. Reno went into the one bathroom and soon enough, Elena heard the shower turn on. She shook her head fiercely to shake away the mental images. She had thought of him _twice _today like that. Ugh! Stupid...Costa Del Sol sun! That was it. It was the heat.

However, Elena used this opportunity to change out of her Turk attire. She peeled off the damp layers, glad that Turks always came prepared. Well, she always came prepared. Elena had thought about the weather and with their luck, she had a feeling there would be a storm. So she had packed a small duffel back with her own clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, and extra underwear. She frowned slightly, making sure to shove the extra panties at the very bottom. No need for a nosy redhead to go through those.

She hung her suit on a rack near the heater to let them dry. She dressed quickly, not wanting to be out here clad in her bra and panties when Reno was done in the shower. Pulling on a pair of black sweatpants and an old-t shirt, she could already feel her body relax as she tugged the covers back on the bed.

The shower turned off just as Elena settled into bed. The bed sunk a little as Reno collapsed beside her. She sat up and turned to Reno,

"You're sleeping on the floor." Elena pointed to the carpeted floor. Reno yawned and turned on his side, ignoring her. If it was any other day, Elena would have shoved him off the bed. But her eyes caught the cast on his wrist and her stomach sunk a little. Just for tonight…

"_However, I'd be more than willing to trade..." _Reno's eyes opened as if he was struck with his EMR. He sat up frantically, his eyes searching in the darkness for Elena. She was right there. She was _fine._ Reno bit his lower lip in thought. He couldn't even imagine..._'If he laid one finger on you...I would have made his death ten times more painful.'_ What had gotten into him? When he killed Simon it wasn't just because the guy was a murdering sleazeball that didn't deserve to breath. It wasn't just because he insulted the Turks. It was...because of...

Reno wouldn't let his mind finish the thought. He was tired, his mind was just running away with things—he was reading into this far too much. Reno turned on his side and grinned. Elena was facing him. This was too good to pass up. He scooted closer and put his injured arm around her waist. He closed his eyes, hoping for a hilarious reaction in the morning. He tensed when she leaned into his chest but soon relaxed.

Tomorrow morning was going to have him on the floor laughing, he was sure of it.

&3&3&3&3&

The smoke clung to the ceiling and moved about in puffs and circles.

"Too soon...too soon...we must act with caution."

"But Sir!"

"Silence. I think you forget who is the director of this play...you are only a supporting role and you will do as I say, understood?"

"Yes...Sir..."

* * *

A/N: This is the longest chapter I have ever written. I SWEAR. This chapter is almost 6,500 words long.

Holy...wow. Damn...I just kept writing and writing. I guess I was pretty inspired.

Please review?

Come on, you and me, I gave you fluffy-chapter with some bits of darkness with some bits of Reno-confusion and Tifa/Rude interaction and sneaky receptionists!

Even some mystery in there at the end!

So...come on, lemme know what ya think, yo.

I'm trying to be more descriptive and detailed, hopefully, I'm doing alright. XD


	8. Another Farewell

A/N: Sometimes, I really hate hate hate the hot weather.

Anyways, thanks so much for all your reviews. They make me happy!

* * *

_Previously,_

_Tomorrow morning was going to have him on the floor laughing, he was sure of it._

&3&3

Elena snuggled closer to the exquisite warmth, letting a soft sigh escape from her lips. Her mind was half-awake, idly wondering how a hotel room was the best nights sleep she got in weeks. She took a deep breath through her nose and the scent of soap filled her nostrils. Funny, hotel pillows don't smell like soap.

Hmm...

Her eyes fluttered open to see Reno's chest covered by a thin shirt. Her heart rate suddenly quickened and Elena squirmed to move out of the embarrassing situation.

A grip around her waist kept her close. Elena peeked up to see that Reno was still asleep. Wow, he looked _almost_ innocent. She was surprised to see that his smirk didn't remain on his face even as he slept. Elena closed her eyes again when she felt him stir. Maybe if she pretended to sleep, Reno wouldn't tease her about this. Had they wound up in this situation subconsciously? Or did she, like a child, curl up to him during the night?

"Morning…" His voice was low and warm. The sound of him abruptly clearing his throat made Elena jump—here comes the teasing...right? His arm around her waist relaxed. But, Elena couldn't stay here in his embrace—oh no. She quickly scooted away and back to her side of the bed. Reno yawned and sat up, his eyes still tired but slowly he was becoming more awake.

"Does this place even have a coffee machine?" Reno kicked aside the blankets and Elena stole a moment to admire his broad shoulders as he had his back turned. She watched his shoulder blades move as he stretched his arms in front of him. Well, stretched as much as he could with a cast on one wrist. She blinked when she realized exactly _what _she was doing. This was Reno! '_well, he does have different clothes on, I am used to seeing him in that suit. So...I'm just observing the changes. I'm not checking him out or anything!'_

"I wonder where Rude stayed...he probably got a bed all to himself. Bastard."

"What would we have done if we got a double-room?" She asked, pulling the blankets off her body.

"Hm." Reno cracked his back, causing Elena to roll her eyes rather than make a face. "Double-rooms usually have a couch that pulls out into a bed. So we all woulda slept comfortably without any...situations." He plopped back onto the bed, once again, another amazing opportunity. He wrapped both arms around Elena's waist, causing the blonde to shriek.

"Reno! Get off!" She pushed at his shoulders. "Come on! This isn't the time for games!" They had to get back to ShinRa! Rude was probably waiting for them—she actually had forgotten Rude until Reno mentioned the bald man.

"Why, baby?" He nuzzled his head against her side.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend! You're always trying to cop a feel!"

"I haven't tried yet, 'Laney." He grinned up at her blushing face. "Unless you want me to...?"

"No!" Elena huffed out a sigh and crossed her arms. She was not going to play this game. She hadn't even had her coffee yet, or a shower, or anything to eat. Reno just stared up at her, his arms still around her waist, even though it was uncomfortable for his injured arm to be doing this. It was worth it. Poor 'Laney was going to faint with all the blood rushing to her cheeks. Any second now she was going to start nervously rambling...

"Reno, really. We're on a mission and there is a time and place for everything. Not that I ever want there to be a time and a place for this! It's just, do you even take anything seriously! Wait, don't even answer that. We have to get back to Tseng and give him those reports you found...don't you want to catch the people who are after us? I do! I really do! I don't wanna be paranoid each time I get into a car that it's going to explode! Or that someone is going to poison my food."

_Does she even breathe when she talks like this?_

"Not that there isn't a threat or anything...like, I get it. ShinRa is hated but we haven't had a threat like this in a long long time with the WRO and the new order of things—we're trying! We aren't the bad guys anymore, Reno! Sure...we do...bad things sometimes...but it's our job and-"

"'Lena." He cut her off, letting go of her waist and sitting up to be at eye-level with the little Turk.

"When was the last time you had s-" Elena clamped her hand over his mouth, seeing his aqua eyes laughing with amusement. He simply had to ask, she turned red with the lightest of touches, what else could he assume? Either it's been a long time or 'Laney was a virgin.

"THAT is none of your business!" She hissed into his face, "And it will never be your business!" She let her hand drop from his mouth and turned away from the redhead.

"So it's just me then?" He asked with an arrogant grin. "I make you blush and stutter without even doing _anything, _trust me Elena—I can make you loose your voice if ya want me to." He watched her move about the room, gathering her clothes from where she had placed them last night to dry.

"No!" Why was she even discussing this? Elena fished out her toothbrush from her duffel bag and quickly grabbed a clean pair of underwear. She balled up the clothes in one arm so he couldn't tell shirt from pants. "I'm going to shower and then we are getting out of here."

"Damn, I never thought The Rookie could call shots like this." He sat up a little straighter on the bed. "Tell me, 'Laney, is that any way to speak to your superior?" She froze mid-step. Not fair.

"No...sir." She smirked, knowing how Reno loathed being called 'sir'. He always complained how it didn't fit him and they should change the protocol to 'Sexy' at least that way he would acknowledge it. Reno just glared and Elena took that as a win. She made her way to the bathroom and locked the door.

&3&3&3&3&

Tseng looked up from his paperwork as his three Turks came into his office. Seth had been sitting, quietly, beside his desk.

"Elena." He addressed the blonde Turk first, "I have to speak with you." Reno caught her eyes widening.

"Of course, sir." Her back straightened, Reno almost chuckled. She'd was going to snap in half one day.

"Reno, Rude, Seth...if you would." Tseng motioned for the door.

"What was that about?" Reno said the second the door shut behind them.

"I dunno." Seth responded, "Maybe he's debriefing her on the mission we got."

"What?" Reno turned abruptly to stare into the man's face.

"Elena and I have a mission..." Seth crossed his arms and Reno at that moment realized how much he hated this non-Turk. His stupid golden-blonde hair and his failed-attempt at the 'don't give a shit bedhead'. Rude stood nearby, shaking his head. _Reno...please don't kill him._

Reno smirked, "Yeah, whatever." As if Tseng would give Seth and Elena a mission. The redhead turned on his heel and headed back to his office for a nap. Seth looked to Rude, confusion clear on his face. Rude did not give the man an explanation. He did not dislike Seth as much as Reno did. However, Rude wasn't going to make this job any easier for Seth.

Rude fixed his glasses on his nose and then followed his partner. No words exchanged and the bald man hadn't even changed his facial expression.

&3&3&3&3&

_One short nap later..._

Reno shoved open the door to Tseng's office and the dark-haired Wutian man didn't even look up.

"Yes, Reno?"

"Seth and Elena went on a mission?" He demanded, he was second-in-command, how did he not know about this?

Tseng set his pen down, feeling a migraine coming along.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why can't Rude and I go along! We're THE TURKS!" Reno fumed, running a hand through his hair.

"He's just a...he's not even a Turk! Why does he get to go with-?" He proceeded on a rant.

"Reno, this mission...it's not real." Tseng responded calmly.

"What?" He frowned a little, baffled as to what Tseng meant.

"They found the body of the boy, Allen. I sent Elena and Seth to go and retrieve it. Seth thinks it's a rescue mission but Elena knows the truth."

Tseng pauses. "Also, the sight of the boy might shake him...make his tongue a little loose. He trusts Elena; he will tell her whatever he can." Tseng leaned forward on his desk, pressing his fingertips together.

"Wait...so..." Reno tugged at the crimson strands of hair. He thought of Elena, seeing the body of a child, dead.

"She's strong." Tseng muttered seeming to read his subordinates mind.

"I know." Reno exhaled through his nose. "Just...let me know when she gets back."

"I can do that. Now, get to work."

Reno smirked, "Ha. In your dreams!"

Tseng just shook his head. If Reno wasn't such a damn good Turk he would have been fired a long time ago. But, Reno was loyal, a professional, and his greatest talent was being able to think on his feet. Tseng watched him leave his office and he sighed, his Turks were his family.

_(Flashback ; Reno's Birthday)_

"_Holy—NO WAY!" Reno threw his arms into the air and ran towards the helicopter. "All mine?"_

"_All yours." Tseng chuckled lightly at the redheads childish nature. The helicopter was jet-black with no ShinRa logo. Reno could paint green flames on it, if he wanted. Not that Tseng would enjoy that but it was his helicopter._

"_Thanks, yo." Reno smiled sheepishly before climbing into the helicopter and touching every control. His eyes were bright with excitement. "Yo Boss! Can I clock out early? Come on! It's my birthday!" Reno celebrated his birthday on a different day of the year, every year. Since no one, not even ShinRa, knew his birth date. This year, his birthday was in the autumn. Reno had explained, 'I choose my birthday based on the best thing that happened on the previous year.'_

"_One question, Reno." Tseng said walking forward, Reno blinked a few times. _

"_What's up?"_

"_Why this date? What happened last year that made you choose?" Tseng could recall the events of last year being difficult ones. It had only been a year since AVALANCHE, Meteor, and loosing Aerith. He couldn't understand what made Reno choose this date. It wasn't like last year was full of happy memories._

"_Oh um..." Reno scratched his head, his aqua eyes looking upwards, hoping to find the answer in the black sky. "You'll have to check the mission files for that one!" Reno snickered and put on his headset. Tseng shook his head as the helicopter blades fiercely spun, causing his hair to go off in every direction possible. _

_That evening, Tseng did look in the mission files..._

_October 10th_

_Reno is hospitalized due to injuries caused by AVALANCHE._

_Elena is promoted to rank of "Turk" and will be his replacement until he is fully healed._

_Tseng had smiled a very rare smile. _

"I wonder...he's kept October10th as his birthday for almost three years now." Tseng just shook his head, continuing his work.

&3&3&3&3&3

When the car pulled to a stop, Elena couldn't help but feel nervous. The place was an old shelter, didn't look like many people used it after the cleaning-up of Midgar. Seth was right behind her as she pushed the door open with her shoulder. The shelter was just one room, the windows smashed, and it was constructed from scrap-materials.

As she stepped into the room, seeing a body covered by a blanket. Soft perfume is stirred by the expected draft from the windows. It was as if someone had spritzed the perfume to extinguish the scent of decaying flash.

Seth was wearing his black gloves as he pulled the blanket back. "It's Allen." A boy, few years older than Marlene, with dark brown hair—past shoulder length. Allen was badly bruised and terribly skinny. His skin was beyond pale, taking a more gray color with his lips stained blue. His skin was almost translucent...it was terrifying. Worse than any horror movie she ever watched. Seth pulled the blanket back over the child.

He sunk to his knees, "He shouldn't have...died..."

"The medics said he died from abuse and malnutrition..." Somehow, that didn't soften the sight.

"He at least deserves a proper funeral!" Seth nearly shouted, as he wiped at his eyes.

"Of course!" Elena placed a hand on Seth's shoulder, her only act of comfort and still it felt forced. The sight had shaken her but she would survive, she would recover, because she was a Turk. Elena walked out of the stuffy shelter and pulled her phone from her pocket.

"I need a medical unit to transport a body to a proper burial site..." She kept her tone sharp and clipped. _'I thought I was going to break down after seeing the body...I haven't seen that many...strange, it doesn't feel real to me.' _

Elena sat on the curb and waited, she never thought she would actually miss her two partners.

"_I can't believe we came all the way out here for this, yo." Reno would have said. And then she would have said, "Reno. Have some respect!" He would say, "Laney, slum-kids die every single day. Stop being so damn emotional." He would have pushed her shoulder or ruffled her hair to take the edge of the comment. _

Elena sighed her chocolate eyes looking upwards into the gray skies of Midgar.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena had only been to a graveyard twice in her life. The first was for the death of her grandfather when she was young, the second was for Rosalind's staged death and funeral. She could recall Rosalind's funeral with stunning detail. It was only a few months after Elena finished her training at the academy and had the choice to work at ShinRa. She had originally turned it down, wanting nothing to do with ShinRa as long as her sister still worked for them.

_October 1_

_Autumn was fast approaching and Rosalind's coffin was decorated in red roses. She couldn't understand it. If the Life stream took the body, what was the point in all of this? Elena figured it was just for show—her sister always was a show off. Or maybe it was so that everyone could say goodbye. Elena watched her parents reaction as the casket was lowered into the ground. They didn't cry. They didn't frown. Her mother went back to Icicle the next day and her father went back to ShinRa. Elena was left alone in their big house in Sector 3. _

_She had shattered two picture frames that held her sisters' picture. Out of anger or sadness, she didn't know. Then, she picked up the phone and nearly stabbed the numbers into the dial pad._

"_Elena." The voice sounded pleased, "have you given our offer some thought..?"_

"_I have. I'll work for ShinRa..."_

"_Excellent...Rosalind-" _

"_Don't say her name." Elena nearly snarled, "I want nothing to do with her memory."_

_A few days after that, Elena cut her hair and was working for ShinRa. Thanks to her sisters' status and good-standing with Tseng and the President, Elena was a first-choice when they needed a replacement for Reno._

This funeral wasn't as pretty as Rosalind's had been. With co-workers, friends, and a sparse handful of family gathered around in mourning. But at least this funeral was real, raw, emotion. Seth set the body down and knelt beside it.

"So...Allen..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I hope you find peace." His stormy gray eyes looked to Elena. She was at a loss of what to shook her head and looked away as a green flow of light came down from the sky.

Elena could feel the warmth radiating from it as it wrapped around Allen's body.

"See ya, kid." Seth choked out a sob, "Be good and we'll...be thinking of you..." The body was enveloped in the green light, sparkling, twisting, twirling, and then...gone. The ratty blanket left behind on the grass.

"He's free." Elena muttered, causing Seth to look up. "Free from the pain..." She clarified and Elena looked around the graveyard. She could faintly smell roses—but maybe that was just her imagination. Seth sighed, _Elena is such a strong and beautiful woman..._

"I remember Allen talking about this old building—he said ShinRa was building it and then stopped after the Mako reactors were destroyed. He always said it was haunted..."Seth stood from his spot, taking the blanket with him. "Maybe there's a clue to his death there."

"We can look into it." _Tseng was right...I wonder if I can press for more information? _"His death was out of the ordinary, the medical staff said that it was possible he had been tortured."

Seth curled his fist, "Someone hurt him. I am going to find out who and I am going to kill them."

"I just don't understand _why. _He was just a kid!" Elena said as they walked back to the car. "He wasn't a threat to ShinRa or anyone else..."

"I don't know." Seth replied uselessly.

"Let's just get back to HQ." So much for trying to find out more information. Oh well, she would take what she could get.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

**To:** Reno

**From:** Tseng

"_Elena has returned from her mission."_

Reno jumped up from his chair, causing Rude to raise an eyebrow, but then the bald man decided not to question it. He pulled open the door to his office and walked briskly to Tseng's. He caught Elena just as she was entering the elevator.

"Hey 'Laney!" He stopped the elevator with his hand and slipped inside.

"Yes...?" Reno took in her appearance first before answering, she looked okay. Her eyes were bright, that excited look in her eyes when she succeeded in something. Otherwise than that she looked terrible. A mixture of exhaustion and sadness. If anyone could cheer up Elena, it was Reno.

"How did it go?" He leaned his shoulder against the elevator wall and grinned as she turned to face him.

"Another lead." She responded with a small smile.

_There's something off about her smile...it's...haunted. I can fix that!_

He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, "Reno!" She gasped as he messed up her hair. Injured arm around her shoulders, her back to his chest, and his hand ruffling and tousling her blonde hair. "Stop!" She squirmed against him, laughing a little.

She jabbed him in the chest with her elbow and he backed off.

Elena smoothed down her hair with her hands, shooting him a dirty look to which he responded with a smirk. They fell into an enjoyable silence as Elena continued to fix her hair while using the elevator doors like a mirror.

"How was it here without me?" She asked, just a little curious.

"Boring."

Elena debated telling Reno about how she missed Rude and him during her mission. _No way, that will be a boost to his ego that he doesn't need._

"Wait..." Reno's eyes finally saw the numbers on the elevator. "Floor 66...training?"

"Yeah.." Elena pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. His mind went to yesterday when they were ambushed. His eyes glanced at his cast and the sling, then to Elena, injuries hidden by her suit. He knew of most of them though. Bullet wound on her shoulder that had healed nicely thanks to materia. Her back was badly bruised—materia couldn't help that. It could ease the pain but bruises healed on their own.

"'Laney, you don't need to brush up on any of your skills—at least not in hand to hand. You're good."

"Thanks..." He smirked, watching her eyes widen from shock and her cheeks flush pink from embarrassment.

"You should be practicing with your gun." Anger flashed in her eyes. Oops?

"I won't ever be my sister." She snapped, twice today she had been reminded of Rosalind. A person she would rather forget and bury beneath the dirt. Reno didn't expect that, truly, he had forgotten all about her sister. They were two different people to him—he never compared them, Rosalind barely left an imprint in his mind.

Reno blocked her from leaving, "I never said that."

"Reno, move." Her eyes didn't meet his. He slipped his arm from the sling, probably a bad idea, but he needed his hands. Reno grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the elevator wall. Elena brought her hands up to his chest and pressed, keeping a distance between them. He grabbed her chin with his good hand, tilting her head up to meet his eyes. _He's so close...what the hell is he planning?_

"I never said that." He repeated, all humor from his eyes gone. His grip tightened when she tried to jerk her head away. "Elena, get this straight. You are not and you never will be your sister. That is fine with me, yo." He paused just for a moment, making sure to keep her eyes locked with his.

_Was that his idea of a pep-talk?_

"You're way more fun than she was." The humor returned to his eyes. He let her go and pressed a different floor number, to lead them to the VR-training room. Elena's face had flushed pink and she kept her back pressed against the elevator wall as Reno stood with his back to her. She didn't know whether to kick him or thank him. She felt...better. Elena watched him move as he put his arm back into the sling and grumble curse words.

He looked over his shoulder and smirked, Elena gave him a halfhearted glare and a small smirk of her own.

_Her smile is less haunted. I am amazing. _

"C'mon, Rookie."

"You can't call me Rookie anymore now that I have been training Seth." She said following him.

"Ha!" He chuckled a little as he slid is ID card through clearance and typed in the pass code. "You'll always be my Rookie, 'Laney. Now come on!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room.

_Your Rookie? _She didn't have time to think about what he meant—which was probably _nothing_. _He just meant it as he's the only one who calls me Rookie...and he's been training me and supervising me since I joined the Turks._

&3&3&3&3&3

"Wanna take a break?" Reno said as he slumped beside her as they took cover behind a green-colored metallic crate. The Virtual Reality training wasn't challenging for either Turk but it was a good way to blow off steam. Holographic enemies that didn't hurt, but too many shots on the vest you wore and it was 'Game over'. It was almost like laser tag in some aspects. The enemies would disappear and the exit would open.

"I'm good." Elena answered with a nod. Reno peeked around the side of the crate, "Two enemies, three o' clock." He said to Elena and she got to her feet, taking them out while running to new cover. Reno smirked, _Always eager to prover herself. _He got to his feet, twirling his EMR in his hand.

Elena needed practice with a gun while he just wanted to fight something with his injury so that he could prove to Tseng that the missions didn't need to wait.

"Environment Changing. Prepare Yourself." Elena moved to Reno's side. Her back leaned against his as she stood with her gun pointed, ready for anything. The world around them shifted...

"Training Canceled." The room reverted back to its normal state. Empty and boring. No cover and no enemies.

"What?" Reno and Elena shouted in unison, they turned to one another, confusion clearly written on their face.

"Reno, Elena, I'd like to see you in my office." Tseng's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Fine." Reno grumbled taking off his vest, it was similar to a bulletproof vest but less bulky and with a number near the heart, indicating how many shots you could take before you 'died'. The pair exited the room, setting their vests in the rack and Elena left the specialized gun—couldn't have real bullets shooting in there.

"Tseng is going to give you an earful for training with the sling on." She said, shaking her head and wondering why she hadn't stopped him earlier.

"If I took it off, he would be even more upset."

"Can't you use materia to heal it...?"

"This injury keeps me from doing paperwork. I can let it heal the ol' fashioned way."

"Lazy." She teased, making Reno grin ear to ear.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"Once Reno is fully healed, then we will investigate the building Seth mentioned. We have some interviews to go through with ShinRa employees who have been placed under suspicion. Also, we still have to look through those records you found at Costa Del Sol. That should keep everyone busy until we can get back on track. We will continue to train Seth as well." Reno mumbled something that only Rude caught. It wasn't anything nice, of course.

"This delay may actually be a blessing, the terrorist group might be expecting an attack—since I am sure they have gotten word of the death of Simon and the attack on Lucas's bar. It is safe to assume that the group is on the defensive...I don't want you to let your guard down though, not even for a moment."

Elena and Rude nodded, Reno was struggling to stay awake.

"Dismissed."

As Tseng's back was turned, Elena slapped Reno's shoulder, rousing him from his half-sleep state. "Mornin' 'Laney." He smirked as she rolled her eyes. The three Turks left the briefing room, Elena walked in step with Rude while Reno trailed behind.

"Hey, 'Lena...you want a ride home?"

"What?" She spun around, failing to notice Rude's smirk.

"Just offering. Tseng wants us to be on our guard, best if we stick around each other." Reno shrugged.

_Very smooth, Reno. Very smooth. _Rude thought as he held the elevator for his companions.

"Well uh...I promised to go for a drink with Seth after work."Elena turned around and joined Rude in the elevator.

"Oh yeah?" Reno raised an eyebrow, glancing at Rude, "Elena! You have a crush!" He exclaimed practically jumping into the elevator with a big grin.

_Really...instead of being jealous like his eyes are showing, he's acting like that is fine with him. I'm not too sure that's a good idea, Reno. I would be less worried if you suddenly started acting the same way your eyes are showing._ Rude pressed the button and focused on the ceiling, which was very, very interesting. _In such desperate times, we cannot afford a rift in our partnership._

"I do not." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Reno, I go out with you and Rude for drinks but that doesn't mean I have crushes on either of you!"

_Saying that was a bad idea, Elena. You know or you should know how Reno will use that against you._ Even if the ceiling was interesting, it didn't block out the sounds of his two friends and it didn't stop his thoughts from forming.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever 'Laney. We both know how you feel about me." He gave her a cheeky grin.

"Annoyed?" She raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

"Besides that." He sounded exasperated possibly even disappointed. But that tone only seemed to reach Rude's ears. Just what did Reno want out of Elena? What did he want to hear?

"I guess..." The elevator chimed, "You'll never know!" Elena practically sang before rushing out of the elevator, Reno chuckled as she left.

"She's back to normal." Rude commented.

"Yup." Reno sounded happy with that information.

"What did you do?" For the past few days, Elena had been stressed out with her solo-mission and guilty about tricking someone into trusting her. Her and Reno's playful banter seemed to diminish and Rude found himself hating the silence. Reno could get anyone out of a slump. He just had that effect. It took some time with Elena but he had done it—she was acting like Elena again.

Rude saw it when she hit him with the mission file in the helicopter.

"I didn't _do _anything." Reno smirked, "Although..." his tone changed and Rude turned his head to properly read his partner's emotions on his face. "I still don't like Seth takin' up her time, drinks after work is like **our **thing!"

"Hm." Rude nodded a little, letting Reno continue on his tangent.

"If she gets too close to him...that could be bad, yo." Reno said on a softer note.

"I know." Rude knew Reno wasn't talking about competition, if Elena got close to Seth that could make things very complicated for her and the rest of the Turks. Seth _was not an ally. _Once this was over, there would be a slim chance Seth would make it out alive. Reno, Rude, and Tseng didn't trust Seth...but...did Elena trust him?

Rude hoped not.

* * *

A/N: So, I did some research...I made-up Reno's birthday be based on astrology. Reno's personality mainly fits a "Libra". Since their traits are; a charmer, flirtatious, and love to gossip. That's just to name a few. I thought it fit.

Review please? Pretty please? Naah, I won't beg, but I would love a few billion reviews.

I can't wait to give Reno and Elena permission to jump each other. XD


	9. Love Letter

A/N : I like updating this story more than my other ones. Why? 'cause my FF7 muse is a selfish whore...and Bleach has been letting me down. Anyways, take a glance at the chapter title, okay...now read. If you've been paying attention...there won't be any surprises.

* * *

_Previously,_

_Seth was not an ally. Once this was over, there would be a slim chance Seth would make it out alive. Reno, Rude, and Tseng didn't trust Seth...but...did Elena trust him? _

_Rude hoped not. _

&3&3&3

"Alright..." Tseng stood tall in front of his group of Turks. "Seth, you must stay behind because you are not yet a Turk and cannot go on such high-profile missions."

"Oh bummer." Seth looked at Elena, Reno, and Rude. He wanted to see the Turks—including Tseng, in action.

"I'm sorry." Tseng said but there was no apologetic tone. Tseng did not trust Seth to go on this mission. He needed his best Turks and could not be babysitting.

"That's alright." Seth shrugged and his eyes were on Elena. Tseng caught Reno's left hand twitch, the electro-mag rod hanging by the leather strap on his wrist. Seth moved and all the Turks in the room tensed. He put his arms around Elena.

The three males in the room exchanged glances. Rude's eyes were hidden but they mirrored Tseng's confusion but lacked Reno's jealousy. _'Why is she letting him hug her like that? Jeez, are they all buddy-buddy after one fucking drink? I don't even hug her! And we've known each other for years.'_ Reno exhaled sharply through his nostrils. Rude adjusted his glasses on his nose. Tseng smirked sightly, amused by the redhead's facial expression.

"Be careful." Seth muttered to the blonde before taking a step back. Elena laughed softly, her cheeks tinted a soft pink. She was more embarrassed about being hugged in front of her fellow Turks. If Seth had hugged her in private she wouldn't have this blush. That's what she told herself.

She held up her finger and wagged it at him, "Turks don't hug."

Seth just smiled and shook his head. He gave a slight wave to the other Turks before leaving. Seth wasn't aware that Tseng had him under heavy surveillance, people watching, cameras watching, and it was all to protect the few Turks left. Tseng did not have time to babysit but other people in ShinRa _did_ have the time.

They ascended the stairs to the helipad. Reno and Rude would by flying and Tseng and Elena would sit and go over the plan. Reno and Rude walked in front, Tseng and Elena trailing behind. "Elena."

"Yes sir?" Elena's stomach fluttered a bit, she admired her leader...the way her name sounded on his tongue made it sound important. She was still unable to break the habit of calling him 'sir' even though he had mentioned a few times that she may call him 'Tseng'. It just didn't feel right.

"Are you properly equipped for this mission?"

"Uh...I believe so, yes sir."

"Good. I fear we may be heading straight for a hornet's nest." With that they fell silent, leaving Elena to mull over his words. The building was abandoned, old ShinRa property, why did Tseng feel anxious? Elena went through her equipment in her head. She attached a ice materia to her gun and had the barrier spell with her. What could go wrong? She should have brought more...but...if she was going to be with Tseng then Elena wasn't too worried.

&3&3&3

"Alright, Rude and I will be checking the lower floors." Tseng said looking over the blue-prints for the hundredth time today. "Reno will then take the chopper to the top floor where he and Elena will make their way down, we should meet in the middle around floor...22 or so."

Elena blinked. Once. Twice.

"Wait, sir. Did you say Reno and I?" Elena adjusted the headset on her head, hearing Reno chuckle, she shot a glare in his direction. But, he was busy flying the helicopter not looking at her. Tseng sat across from Elena with the blue-prints on his lap. Tseng gave her an amused look.

"I did. You'll cover more ground, trust me." Truth was, Tseng changed the plans at the last moment. He felt more secure having Rude check the lower floors with him. They could push aside rubble and whatever else with ease. And Tseng just wanted to keep Elena close to Reno. The redhead would be a ball of hidden anxiety if Elena was away from him in a mission like this.

They were stepping into unknown territory, unsure of threats or if the building was even safe to land on.

"If you make contact with any hostiles, do not engage. Knock them out but do not kill them. We may be able to gather information from them." Tseng instructed as the chopper slowly hovered to the ground. Elena peered out the window, the building looked decrepit and dangerous.

"Yes sir." All Turks responded, except Reno, who just grinned and gave a thumbs up. Once Rude and Tseng were out of the chopper, Reno hovered back up into the air and went to land expertly on the roof.

"You sure the building can hold the weight..." Elena's voice drifted into his ears.

"We'll find out."

&3&3&3&3

"Basement then we work our way up." Tseng said, seeing Rude nod out of the corner of his eye. Tseng liked Rude. The man was quiet, loyal, and wise. He was the perfect balance for the loud, rash, and cocky Reno.

The building was falling apart and bursting at the seams. Trash littered about the building, some of it usual garbage and some of it data that was destroyed. Tseng read in the file that ShinRa was building this to have it be a back-up science department to house recent but not as dangerous experiments. The building was never finished. The basic structure was there but now it was falling apart.

Tseng heard the whirl of helicopter blades above them.

"Reno found a way to land on the remains of the roof..." Tseng said, looking at Rude.

The bald man gave him a 'are you surprised?' smirk.

Tseng shook his head a little, no he wasn't.

Their footsteps echoed with each stride taken. "Tseng." Rude's voice cut through the silence. The leader walked over, seeing a poster of Rufus with darts stuck into it.

"Hm." Tseng nodded a bit. It could have been just some fool's prank or something else but Tseng didn't feel a threat coming from something so childish.

They continued their search for clues.

"Rude." Tseng crouched down and examined the burned paper on the floor. There was a logo on the corner of a burned slip of paper. Tseng took out his phone and took a picture before collecting the evidence.

"Murders...worthless...must...do not..." Rude was trying to piece together a burned document. The pages were yellowed and brown and the ink had bled off the page. He could get bits and pieces but nothing more.

"Murders must die." Tseng said with a light snort as he looked upon a blank wall. Red paint with the words he had just spoken smeared across. "I believe these people have true hatred for ShinRa. More so than Avalanche. They do not care about the environment or the Planet...they simply want us dead."

"..." Rude stared at the words on the wall.

&3&3&3&3

"We could have died!" Elena tossed her headset to the helicopter's floor and spun around to meet Reno's gaze. He was gone. Aw what the hell! She followed him out onto the roof, "Reno?" Her patience was wearing thin.

"Hm?"

"Did you hear what I said? Why couldn't we put the chopper somewhere else...I don't...like this place." Elena shifted her weight carefully. She was afraid the concrete was just going to collapse and she was going to fall god-knows how many floors and die in a twisted, crumbled, heap of bones and—HEY! Reno was walking away again!

"Reno!"

"What?" He drawled, turning his head slightly to look at her. The little hug she shared with Seth earlier today had put him off. He didn't know why it bothered him so , it did. He wasn't going to tell her because it was her job to earn Seth's trust...but...

"I...are you even listening to me?"

"Not really. Let's get this over with, yo." Reno shrugged and pushed on the door to the stairwell. The door squeaked eerily and Elena took brisk steps to catch up with him. She gave a soft sigh of relief when she saw the stairs were still intact.

She got to the second step and tripped, only to have a grip on her arm save her from tumbling down. Elena looked up to give Reno an appreciative smile but he had already let her arm go and was walking down the stairs the rest of the way.

What the hell?

What was with this sudden distance he had placed between them? Where was the teasing? The nicknames? Elena never thought she'd actually miss the word 'Laney' rolling off his tongue. The way he drawled out the 'a' to make it extra annoying.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Reno was leading the way—still. Not even glancing at her. Okay that was it.

Elena hurried her pace and stepped in front of him. He stopped as she grabbed his shirt, "What the hell is your problem?" She yelled into his face. His expression didn't even change. He wasn't smirking—why wasn't he smirking? His face was a mask of cool composure.

She didn't like it.

He shoved her away and her grip fell from his shirt. "You're unbelievable."

"Wha—I'm not the one acting like a complete asshole! I think you've lost it."

"I think you've just forgotten who your friends are!" He snapped before storming off. The words stung like salt in an open wound. _That's _what this was about? Was he...nah...Reno didn't get jealous. She hadn't forgotten him or Rude. Every time she was with Seth, she wanted to be with her friends. Elena couldn't tell him that, not now. Elena swallowed down her words and followed Reno silently.

_'Dammit...I didn't mean to say that. She just...whatever. If Elena wants to put her mission, Seth, above our friendship...I can handle that.'_

_'I don't get it. He's making me feel like I cheated on him! Why do I feel so guilty? Ugh! What the hell do I even say?'_

"I'll take point." Elena stepped in front of Reno and pushed open the next door. There was a long hallway out in front of them with a gaping hole at the end. The support beams of the building stuck out and looked as if they were trying to reach the cloudy sky.

Elena frowned a little but kept walking forward. Her eyes could see something at the end of the hallway, just on the ledge where the hole was. It was sparkling in the dull light. What was it...was it materia...or...

"ELENA!"

Elena turned a bit at the sound of Reno's panicked voice. She had never heard his voice take on that tone before.

A crimson warmth sprayed from her chest and her chocolate colored eyes went wide with shock. The blood splatter hit the walls and the floor before Elena fell back onto the concrete. She saw white spots dancing around her vision as her head connected with the floor. A searing pain was ripping through her body combined with the throb from the back of her head.

"Shit!" Reno ducked behind one of the fallen pieces of ceiling for cover. A bullet just barely missed him.

"Elena?"

She shut her eyes as hot tears collected in her eyes. The blood was in her throat, she could taste it. The blonde turned her head to the side and coughed up the foul liquid. It was burning and metallic tasting as it stuck to her tongue and teeth.

"Elena? Talk to me, baby, please."

Baby? That was a new one. A little too affectionate. Elena struggled to open her eyes and get them to focus on the redhead nearby. He was crouching behind a piece of sheet rock—wasn't very good cover...but...he wasn't going to stay. She wasn't going to let him get killed over her.

"Come on, 'Lena..."

_'His voice...how come I never noticed how...nice it sounds...'_

Reno was cursing as he took out his PHS and connected Tseng. He put the wireless device in his ear so he could talk to Tseng with his hands free.

"Tseng! There's a sniper, Elena's hurt..."

"_The sniper must be positioned at the opposite building. Can you see?"_

Reno took a deep breath before peeking around the side of his cover. He ducked back into cover nearly a second later. "Barely."

"_Damn...you can't reach the sniper, Reno. Get out of there."_

"I am not leaving her!"

"_Reno! We will send a team to aid her once we handle the sniper." _

The redhead let out a growl of frustration, his eyes on Elena who wasn't even moving—gods let her be breathing. Reno flattened his body so he was lying on his stomach and he cursed himself for not bringing any restore materia. He didn't think they'd be attacked. He was an idiot...

"Laney..."

"Go, Reno."

_'Gods, I never thought I'd be so happy to hear her fucking voice.'_

"No. I ain't leaving you!"

"_Reno? Are you there?" _Reno disconnected his PHS connection with Tseng. He would talk to the man later. Sure, doing that would cause alarm, but he only wanted to hear Elena's voice right now.

"Reno, please..."

"No!"

"Reno, Reno, please...please...go...I'll be fine." The hot tears had spilled from her eyes and were mixing with the blood around her and the little droplets on her face. She turned her head to meet his eyes and felt a swell of emotions overtake her being. She didn't want to die. She, especially, did not want Reno to die. She didn't want to die _in front of _Reno.

"Reno! Go!" She was bordering on hysterics now. Her voice threatening to crack with each desperate plea. "You have to! Tseng said..."

"I don't care! You're not dyin' here and I'm not going anywhere! So shut the hell up and let me think!" Reno huffed and his eye contact didn't waver. Elena was thankful for that. He was begging her too...with his eyes...he was begging her to hold on.

Elena swallowed the blood in her throat. A heavy silence hung in the air. Elena counted her heartbeats and Reno was going over battle strategies. He couldn't move her, he couldn't go near her, he needed to get rid of the sniper. But HOW? He was running out of time. Elena was loosing blood and he didn't know where the bullet had hit.

"Hey...Reno..."

"Hm?" Even though a minute ago he asked her to shut up, he didn't mind hearing her voice. It was comforting to know she was okay enough to still talk to him.

"Do you remember..." She took in a shaky breath, her eyes closing, she was so tired. "What a love letter...was...?"

"What?" He didn't have time for riddles.

"It's a bullet...straight...from the gun...to...to...the heart." Elena couldn't contain it and she let out a small sob. She composed herself after that cry had escaped. She would not give her enemy the satisfaction of tears. She could at least have her dignity.

"Laney! You are not going to die! Do you hear me? Listen to me. You are **NOT** going anywhere." Reno scowled. She wasn't giving up already, was she?

"I'm not giving up on you, Elena! So don't you _dare _give up on me!"

Elena opened her eyes again and managed a weak smile. She mouthed, 'Okay' to him. It would hurt to talk. Elena took in a breath even though the pain was increased when she did that. A raging fire spreading from her ribs to her toes.

Elena sat up a little bit—maybe she could crawl her way over to Reno? She grit her teeth, ignoring the pain, and focusing on Reno. Just Reno. Get to Reno.

**'BANG!' **

Elena shrieked as dust flew up from the floor and into her face, the bullet making a dent in the ground dangerously close to her head.

"_Stay down, blondie. Or next time...I won't miss." _A cruel female voice broke through the static on their PHS. The static resumed and then was replaced with Tseng's worried voice.

"_Who was that?" _

"They hacked our connection? Holy shit." Reno muttered, his eyes lingering on the spot where the woman shot. Elena was trembling with fear or pain...he didn't know. And he was helpless! What was the point of being second-in-command when you couldn't do anything? He wasn't going to watch her die...she wasn't...he wasn't going to leave her.

"Reno, we have to go." Rude's voice said behind him near the door.

"Hell. No."

Elena held a secret smile at Reno's devotion to her. To the Turks, not just to her, of course. It it was Rude or Tseng lying here...he wouldn't abandon them either. His loyalty warmed her heart...did she even deserve such loyalty? When she spent more of her time with someone who wasn't even a true Turk or friend?

Rude sighs, "Sorry...partner..." Rude grabbed Reno from the back of the collar and dragged him back. The sniper didn't take the shot. Reno is thrashing and flailing around, knowing it was useless against Rude who was bigger than he was. "Rude! LEMME GO! ELENA!" Reno bellowed as the door shut and Elena disappeared from his eyesight.

"NO NO NO!" He struggled against Rude's hold. "ELENA!"

She shivered at the sound of his voice...desperate...but so far away. _'Reno...I'll be fine. I'm a Turk, remember?'_

Tseng gave Rude a short nod and Rude let out another sigh.

"ELEN-" Reno's voice was cut as Rude knocked him out with one fist. The redhead fell limp in his partner's arms.

"Let's hurry." Tseng said, he didn't want to leave Elena, but they could not reach her right now. The sniper would kill them before they got close enough to heal her or move her into cover.

&3&3&3&

Reno blinked as the blurry room came into focus. His office? The details of the day came back in sharp contrast to the gray surroundings of ShinRa. Reno stumbled to his feet, his head still foggy, but quickly recovering.

_'Elena...'_

His mind was abruptly shaken from its dazed state. He grabbed his EMR from his desk and headed to Tseng's office.

"Where is she?" He demanded the second his foot was on the carpet of Tseng's office.

"We just sent out a task force to retrieve her."

"No."

"No?" Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"It's my fault she was hurt, I gotta go back...I swore I wouldn't give up on her." Tseng saw the look in his aquamarine eyes. Once Reno had a his mind set on something there was very little Tseng could do to change his mind. When it came to the safety of another Turk, not even Sephiroth himself could stop Reno when he got _that _look in his eyes. It was an feral, protective, and irrational gleam that held his eyes with such intensity, Tseng always found himself surprised when he saw it. Maybe because the look was so rare to see.

"It's personal this time, Tseng." Reno couldn't hold back the snarl in his voice. That sniper was going to die. She hurt his 'Laney, his Rookie, his closest friend besides Rude...she had gotten hurt while on a mission with him. And this wasn't a little scratch...no...no...she could by laying there _dying! _

"Understood." It was as much permission as he could give.

Reno's back exiting the office was the last thing Tseng saw before he covered his face with his hands and took in a deep breath. _'Don't get yourself killed, Reno.' _

* * *

A/N: Yeah! A more action chapter, I think! I love writing for this pairing...it's so much fun. I kinda do it for my own selfish enjoyment but I sincerely hope you enjoy the fic as well! 8D

Comments, questions, reviews, all welcome! Have a good one and I'll see ya next chapter! Reno gets to kick ass and take names.


	10. No Heroes

A/N: Been a while...hehe...I wish I had a song recommendation for this chapter. Hmm, I was listening to "The Noose" by _A Perfect Circle w_hile writing this...XD (start the song at the start of the chapter).

Enjoy!

* * *

_Previously..._

"Understood." It was as much permission as he could give.

Reno's back exiting the office was the last thing Tseng saw before he covered his face with his hands and took in a deep breath_. 'Don't get yourself killed, Reno.' _

&3&3&3&

_'Reno...'_ Her hand twitched as her body regained consciousness. Her back was against something soft—it was so dark. Oh! NO NO NO! She wasn't in the ground, was she? _'I'm alive! I'm alive!_' She forced her eyes to open and saw more darkness, her hands digging into the softness beneath her. It wasn't dirt.

Her anxiety was put to rest but more worries filled in its place. Where _was _she?

Elena's eyes felt heavy as she moved them across her body. The bed was stained with blood...her blood? She moved her arm to touch the bare skin of her chest—where did her shirt go? She looked down and saw the bullet wound had been treated. Elena ran her finger along the stitches...restore materia would have fixed this up...but wherever she was must have not had any to spare.

She looked at her other arm—a tube was placed in her arm and a bag above the bed was dripping down with blood. Elena blinked and ran a hand through her hair, she wrinkled her nose, the back of her head was dried with blood.

"We don't want you dying just yet..." A voice said as the door opened, a bright light entered the room and Elena lifted her arm to shield her eyes. The light extinguished and she heard someone flick a light switch. A light bulb above the bed buzzed with life and illuminated the room.

Her eyes adjusted to the new light and she eyed the room skeptically. There was a sink in the corner, no windows, one door, the room was all gray. It felt more like a cell to Elena. Hell, it _was _a cell. Elena heard heels click as the person who just walked in came to her bedside.

Her hair was a sandy brown, pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a black suit with a blood red undershirt. "It's Elena right?" The woman's voice was too light, too warm, it didn't fit her intimidating appearance.

Elena kept her mouth shut for once in her life.

"I'm Samantha!" The woman says with a smile. A smile that doesn't reach her eyes Elena notices. The blonde Turk tenses as the woman, Samantha, places her hands on the railing of the bed.

"I'm the one who shot you…I was aiming for Reno. Turns out, this situation actually works in our favor." Samantha motions to the blood and the fact that Elena's sitting up in a hospital bed. Elena frowned, completely distrusting of this woman and what her plans were. If they wanted her dead...why didn't they just do it? But, if they were aiming for Reno—why keep her alive?

"It was almost a clean shot, too bad you moved at the last second. You thought the bullet hit your heart, but it just barely missed it…" She clicks her tongue against the back of her teeth. Elena wonders if she can rip the IV out and stab Samantha with it.

Finally, Elena opened her mouth...

"Why are you keeping me alive?"

"For Reno." Samantha answered with a shrug and she pushes away from the bed. The bed shakes slightly and the bag of blood sways back and forth. As Samantha moves to pull up a chair, the light bulb is giving the room an orange glow—almost angelic. This place was far from heaven.

"Where am I?"Elena asks, her next question will be how Samantha knows her name and Reno's. Or maybe her next question will be why they think Reno will be the one to rescue her? Elena knew for a fact that Tseng would send out a task force. He wouldn't let Reno go alone into a hornets nest!

Would he...?

"The building across from the one you were in. After Reno was dragged off, we went in and got you. I know, your head must be swimming with questions." Samantha paused, her mind lost in thought for a moment.

"…but how about you relax? After all, the party has only just started." Samantha said with a light giggle at the end of her sentence. She sits in the metal chair and crosses her legs, keeping that smile on her face. It's a fake smile...

Elena feels her stomach twist and she looks away from Samantha. Her body is far too weak to move right now...but just with some time, Elena knows she can break out of here, it's not like they have her tied up or anything.

&3&3&3&3&3

Reno runs his fingertips over the dried blood on the concrete. _'Elena...' _so the body was moved and Reno knew exactly _where _it was moved to. Elena was in too critical condition to move too far so he needed to go where the sniper was stationed and find a hint there. Reno reached into his pocket and took out his PHS, he opened the back and removed the tracker, setting it down on the dried blood. He needed to do this alone.

The redhead turned up the voltage on his EMR and did what any Turk would do—walk in through the front door. The building was identical to the one he and the other Turks scoped out earlier today.

There was red paint on the walls.

Reno scratched a bit off with his thumb and looked at it. It's the same as the paint they found on those calling cards and the paint that Simon once sold in Costa Del Sol.

"Intruder!" Reno looked up from his thumb and three men were running towards him. Reno could already tell by the way they are running that they are just hired thugs. He sighed but a light smirk was on his face. As if he was gonna be taken down by a bunch of hired goons!

Reno side stepped, dodging a punch, and swung his arm back—the EMR connected with the back of the thug's skull. The crack and singe of electricity didn't even phase Reno. He kicked the next man in the jaw, causing him to stumble in to his partner. Reno didn't loose any motivation as he punched that same man in the sternum and shocked him with his EMR.

The second man fell to floor and the third thug wasn't even trying. He released a sloppy haymaker that Reno easily dodged, grabbing the man's fist, spinning him and twisting it behind his back. Reno kicked the man behind the knees and then shocked him right in the spine.

Reno didn't even break a sweat.

The Turk kept moving, following the splotches of red paint, and bullet casings.

"There!" Reno turned on his heel and saw six, no, seven men and two women heading towards him. His aquamarine eyes were quick to assess the situation, three had weapons and only one had a gun. Two can play at that game.

Reno flipped the safety off on his pistol and fired before any of the thugs even reached him. They all froze—like deer in headlights and looked among themselves to see who was shot. A man a few feet away, the only one with a gun, suddenly dropped to the ground.

"Kill him!"

Reno refused to be over powered not when he needed to find Elena. "Heh, you guys don't know who you're dealing with!" Reno yelled as the EMR connected with someone's shoulder, Reno was a blur of red and black as he dodged, parried, and connected more attacks than he could count.

The smell of burning skin and clothing from the lightning attacks of his EMR ran through the hallway.

Reno wiped some blood from his lower lip before he kicked a thug in the head, rendering him unconscious.

_'Don't worry, 'Lena. You just better not be dead when I get there.' _

"Oi, Turk!" Reno looked around for the sound of the voice. He grabbed his neck suddenly as a sharp pinch made his eyes go unfocused.

Then...everything went black. _'Damnit...'_

&3&3&3&3&3&3

Reno opened his eyes, the room around him coming into focus, it was gray...

_'ShinRa?'_

No way. The room had splotches of dark brown on the walls and floor...no doubt old blood. He felt a weight pressed against his side. "E..." He couldn't even get her name out as he saw the wonderful Rookie asleep next to him. Asleep or dead?

He moved his arms, quickly noticing that his hands had cuffs with long chains attached to the wall, and gently shook Elena.

"Laney..."

He watched her eyes widen upon seeing him. His hands fell from her shoulders and they just stared at one another. "Re..no..."

_'Why are you keeping me alive?'_

_'For Reno.'_

"Hey." He smirked and that sparked something of a smile on Elena's face. But, her eyes were filled with worry.

"Where's your backup?" Elena looked around the room just as he did a few minutes ago. Another cell. She rolled her eyes. Great.

"No backup." Her eyes snapped back to her red haired partner.

"What?" She hissed, her voice low, she wasn't sure if anyone was listening or not. Reno didn't seem too put off by the fact that they were _trapped and without backup! _Elena wanted to hit him. Since she had been moved from the hospital cell to a holding cell, she must have drifted off or been drugged or something. She didn't remember moving at all.

"I guess they didn't shoot you in the heart..." His eyes on the stitches on her chest. Elena looked down and saw that her captors, how nice of them, had put her in a white tank top that fit a little loosely. It was a little strange since the tank had buttons but, she wasn't going to complain. Her Turk uniform was drenched in blood.

"I'm fine." Elena didn't understand why he got so...guilty over her injuries. Her mind drifted back to Lucas's bar and the way he examined the bullet wound—now a scar—on her shoulder. Then she thought about how guilty _she _felt when he broke his wrist back in Costa Del Sol. Maybe that's just how partnership worked. You had injuries, you felt bad for not being able to prevent them, and then they heal.

"You're lucky." Reno met her eyes and gave her one of his patented smirks.

"They took care of me..." Her eyes suddenly dropped to the floor. "To _use _me as bait to get you. Reno...I'm..."

"Don't say you're sorry." There was an exasperation to his tone. Honestly, it wasn't like she could stop bullets or anything.

"But they were aiming for you!" Her eyes met his once more and there is a desperation to her tone.

"Then I should be thanking you, 'Laney. You took a bullet that was meant for me." Elena feels his fingertips run along the few stitches and it's sore but she doesn't push him away. The small touch is the most comfort she's gotten in the past few hours. Reno had still saved her though—he had yelled and she was able to move at the right second.

"So...thanks." His fingers slid away from the stitches and his hand fell back onto his lap.

"Yeah, thanks for yelling." Elena felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips.

They saved each other.

&3&3&3

Their moment of tranquility was ended with the heavy door opening and Samantha walking inside.

"Hello sweetie!" She croons to Elena, who flinches in response, and Reno just leaned against her. The only comfort he can give to what he knows is going to happen. Two men come into the room and he felt Elena tense beside him.

_'Be strong, Rookie. Don't think the worse...they could be here for me.'_

"Turks are **so **loyal to each other but...**soooo **very blind." Samantha said as Elena is pulled to her feet by the two men.

Reno jumped to his feet but the chains keep him from going anywhere. He can stand and sit but he can't reach her. They are painfully tight. He can only watch as Elena is roughly tied up, her hands behind her back, but she struggles. She manages to head butt one of the thugs.

Elena curses herself for still being weak—she lost too much blood and didn't get enough back. Her legs feel like jell-o and her head is foggy after that assault. At least the man now has a bloody nose. The two thugs hold her up by her forearms. Their grip is tight and Elena frowned, knowing she was going to be bruised. Didn't she get hurt enough?

"You should let her go." Reno hears the snarl in the voice but makes no effort to tone it down. "She's already hurt." Elena's stomach flutters at the tone of his voice. It's protective. _'Reno has always been protective over the Turks...they are his family...that's why he's taking on that tone.'_

"Not until Vivian is done playing with her!" Samantha giggled again and the door was opened as if on cue. The two Turks can only assume this woman is Vivian. Her eyes are icy blue that contrast greatly to her tanned skin. It's an unusual combination. Her hair is long, thick, and wavy and frames her round china-doll face.

Her outfit is similar to Samantha's, with the same black jacket and red blouse underneath. Unlike Samantha, who has pants on, Vivian is wearing a black skirt and there is a knife strapped to her long, dark leg.

"Reno?" Vivian's voice is cold like her eyes as she takes out the blade. "Why did you come here...?

Elena frowns, _'Why are they asking that? They knew Reno would come for me...they knew he'd rescue me...'_

"Because I just_ love_ what you've done to the place and I wanted some décor ideas." He retorted with a smirk.

Vivian mirrored his smirk, "Why did you come here?"

"To bring Elena back, duh." The male rolled his eyes and then glared at her. It was a stupid question and he didn't have time for stupid questions. He pulled against the chains, wanting more than anything, to kick their asses and get Elena out of here.

"Why?" Vivian tilts her head and feigns innocence. Samantha giggled behind her hand as she watches the little showdown between the two.

"She's a Turk!" He nearly growled, "She doesn't deserve to die by the likes of you!"

Vivian twirled the blade in her hand as she watched Reno with amused blue eyes. "She's a Turk. She doesn't deserve to live. Period."

Reno feels his heart sink to his stomach as Vivian moves—faster than he imagined—and the blade meets Elena's stomach. The blonde Turk let out a sharp cry of surprise but quickly recoils, biting her lip, and silencing her pain. Vivian seems more annoyed by this than anything. She stared into Elena's face with cold, cold blue eyes.

The blade twisted a little and Elena could feel the tears in her eyes. Reno is shocked and frozen in place. His subordinate is being tortured and he...can't do anything! WHAT THE HELL! Vivian pulls the blade away and Samantha steps forward with a green colored materia in her hand.

"We can't have you dying just yet, missy!" Samantha said with an eerie happiness to her voice. Reno tugged the chains once more, the cuffs cutting into his wrists, he was so damn helpless! He couldn't save her. AGAIN. He couldn't help her. AGAIN. The green light surrounded Elena and she stopped biting her lip as the warmth of the spell healed the fresh wound. It was a dull pain now.

"STOP IT!" Reno yelled, seeing Vivian lift up her blade again. "She doesn't **know **anything!"

"Idiot." Vivian brings her attention to Elena again and leans in close. Elena can feel the woman's breath on her face and it's cold. Everything about this woman is cold. Like winter in human form. Yet, it was so out of place with her tan skin that must have seen plenty of sunlight. "Elena..." Vivian dragged the back of her hand across the side of Elena's face.

"You must understand...there are no heroes in this world." Vivian twirled the blade in her hand again and this time Elena was ready for another attack. She bit her lip again to stop herself from crying out. The blade was dragged across the skin behind her ear and Elena felt the warmth of the blood spilling out, following the curve of her neck and collecting on the collar of her borrowed tank top.

"Why are you doing this?" Reno ground his teeth in anger. "She doesn't know anything! I'm second-in-command! Torture me!" He couldn't believe he was actually asking to be tortured.

"We don't want information...and I can already see..." Vivian smirked wickedly, "_This _is torture enough for you, Reno." Vivian checked her watch and the blade was placed back in the strap around her leg. Samantha walked over to Elena once last time and the cut behind her ear was healed.

"We'll be back!" Samantha poked Elena's nose before following Vivian out of the cell. The muscles holding onto Elena, untie her and drop her to the ground. The door is slammed upon exit and the Turks are left alone again.

Reno leaned against the wall and slid down it. His eyes are on Elena as she crawls towards him, pushing herself, because her wrists hurt and her body aches and her legs still feel like jell-o. She collapsed against him, her head on his chest.

_'Come on, Elena! Don't you dare fall asleep...you need to get Reno out of those chains.'_

Her hands press on his stomach and she sits upright. "We'll get out of this...don't worry." Elena grabbed his wrist closest to her and frowned at the sight of angry red marks on his pale skin. "These are so tight..."

"I know." He chuckled weakly as he watched her try to figure out the cuffs. There wasn't a key hole or any type of locking and unlocking mechanism.

"It might be magical...do you have any materia?" Reno shook his head at her question.

"They looted me before they shoved me in here. Otherwise, I'd have my EMR." His hands went to her face and he titled her head to the side to see the cut behind her ear. Reno leaned in and Elena's fluttered shut. She felt his lips brush past her cheeks before he spoke into her ear.

"Don't let them do that again." He whispered, voice barely audible even with it so close to her ear. The warmth of his hands on either side of her face vanishes and Elena couldn't help but actually _want _the comfort. Reno watched her with an amused smirk, secretly glad that his touches still managed to get the Rookie flustered. Even in such a tense and dark environment.

Her brown eyes opened and met his again for the umpteenth time tonight. "I'm tough."

Reno just chuckled and Elena settled herself beside him, his arm went around her shoulders, and Elena closed her eyes. Any other day she would have pushed him away. She couldn't push him away tonight, she needed his closeness, his smirk, and that stupid grin of his. She _needed _it if she was going to endure another torture.

By the way Vivian and Samantha were talking...they didn't want information, they just wanted to cause pain for her and Reno. But why? Because they were Turks? Elena didn't know and she didn't know how to find out that sort of information.

"Rookie." He muttered before sleep claimed him. At least, Elena was beside him and alive. He wouldn't know what to do if he found her dead. He decided not to think about it. He'd enjoy this moment, the calm before the storm.

* * *

A/N: xD I dunno if you guys noticed this, but in the last chapter when Reno was knocked out, the first thought he had was 'Elena' and when Elena woke up in this chapter, her first thought was 'Reno'. Aww yeah. Subtle cuteness?

Review if ya want! I do love reading them. Almost as much as I love writing this story ::grins:: Please let me know if there were any errors, things to fix, and what not.


	11. Damp Tango

A/N: Reno and Elena muse go! Updates may be kind of slow, sorry, but hey—at least I'm still updating!

* * *

_Previously..._

"Rookie." He muttered before sleep claimed him. At least, Elena was beside him and alive. He wouldn't know what to do if he found her dead. He decided not to think about it. He'd enjoy this moment, the calm before the storm.

&3&3&3&3

Reno was jolted awake by the weight of Elena being moved from his side. "Where are you taking her?" He demanded, but the hired thug just gave a disgusting smile. Elena looked like a rag doll in his arms.

"Elena!" The blonde didn't stir. _How much blood has she lost? And how exhausted and dehydrated her body must be. If they used Elena as bait to get me...is she...not needed anymore? _"ELENA!"

The heavy metallic door slammed shut. Reno's wrists were a violent red from his struggles against the cuffs. It wasn't long before the door opened again and Vivian entered, a wicked smirk on her face. "Reno? What do you value more...legs or arms?"

A thug entered behind her with a crowbar, "How cliché!" Reno spat.

"You didn't answer my question..." Vivian twirled the crowbar in her hand, all too similar to how Reno twirled his EMR.

"I think it's _my_ turn to ask questions, yo."

Vivian waved her finger at him, "Ah-ah-ah, that's not how this works, Red."

&3&3&3&3

Elena's eyes snapped open, she had been returned to the hospital-cell. There was a soft dripping (probably the sink), a muted buzzing nose (the light), someone clicking their tongue in annoyance (Samantha...).

"You're awake." She stated in a flat tone.

Elena turned her head to the side, expecting another bed, expecting Reno—seeing a wall.

"He's being...questioned." Samantha answered like she could read Elena's mind. _Which is impossible, she's just reading my body language...and my expressions...wear a mask, Elena. _

"He won't talk."

"We know."

Elena stared blankly at the wall listening to the repetitive drip of the sink.

_Drip, drip, drip..._

_Drip, drip, drip..._

_Drip, drip, **WHOO-OP**! _

Elena twitched at the abrupt sound and then the alarm was blaring through the building. Samantha was on her feet and out the door before Elena could ask questions, not that she would get any answers. Elena sat up in the bed, swinging her legs over the side and uneasily standing on her own.

Elena took a deep breath before disconnecting the blood drip from her arm. "Okay, I need..." She looked around the hospital-cell.

**WHOO-OP! **

"Alarms like that...must be the rescue team." Her brown eyes caught sight of a red box below the sink. Elena's legs felt like rubber as she walked, stumbling and catching herself, using the wall as support.

She slipped to the floor, sitting in front of the box. Her fingers shook as she opened the box and dressed the puncture where the IV once was.

**WHOO-OP!**

"Gotta find Reno...gotta...get out..." Elena gripped the sink and pulled herself up. She knew the rescue team would find them but... "You better be alive when I get there."

&3&3&3&3&

"Reno." The redhead looked up to see his bald partner at the door. His shoulder was throbbing in pain but in all honesty, it could have been a lot worse. Vivian liked to banter so Reno was able to distract her for an amount of time, just arguing and being clever.

"Hey, what took ya?"

"Heavy traffic." The two shared a small smirk. Rude used a lightning spell to break the cuffs. Reno rubbed his sore wrists once they were free, "Thanks, yo."

"Hm. Where's Elena?" Reno's stomach tightened at the mention of her name.

"They carried her off earlier...she was in bad shape. We gotta find her."

"Right." Rude stopped, reaching into his jacket, "You might want this." Rude passed Reno's EMR to him, Reno wasn't going to ask where he found it and frankly, he didn't care. He had his weapon back, he was out of captivity, and now there was a Rookie suffering from blood-loss in this building that needed to be found.

**WHOO-zzzz**

&3&3&3&3

Elena pulled open the door, _I can't believe it's unlocked._ The hallway was deserted and the alarm had stopped. _We...we couldn't have been outnumbered or...why has it stopped? _She gingerly stepped over empty bullet casings and her eyes scanned around the floor for any important documents. Most of it was trash. Burned papers, empty cans, empty bottles, snack wrappers and that vibrant red paint splattered about.

Elena couldn't stand for long, her vision would become blurry and her legs still weren't working properly. Damn. When her vision did get fuzzy, Elena just pressed her shoulder against the wall and kept walking.

_Turks survive. It's what we do. We survive!_

"LANEY!" Her vision was still blurry but she could recognize that red hair in the dark...wait...what? That didn't...

Her forehead pressed against something soft and two hands were spanning across her back. Something was tapping against the back of her leg, it was swinging gently back and forth, oh...Reno's EMR was strapped to his wrist...right, that made sense.

Elena sucked in a ragged breath, "Keep moving." Her eyelids were being tugged by an invisible weight. There was no time for sleep. Wake up...stay conscious...keep moving. _Turks survive! _

Rude didn't say anything, only observed. He saw the look on Reno's face. He understood the emotions. He saw the way Reno collected the blonde into his arms like it was second-nature. Comforting her and keeping her upright, if all for the chance to touch her. Rude would never say anything about it...not now, not until Reno said something first.

"You're not-" Elena's voice increased upon the realization, "Carrying me! Put me down! I can walk."

"Sure you can, that's why I found you leaning against the wall struggling for breath." Reno answered smugly as he carried Elena to the extraction point.

"Reno!" Her tone was whiny so his response of "Elena!" in an equally whiny tone was expected.

But, it was still annoying.

Her eyes slipped close, "Just...don't use me as a meat shield." She muttered.

&3&3&3&3

The helicopter buzzing is the most comforting sound Elena has ever heard. She's sitting next to Reno and her cheek is leaning against his bony shoulder—well, it's not bony, it's just...Reno is so skinny. His shoulder isn't exactly comfortable, _to think...just a few hours ago, his shoulder was like a security blanket in that...that..._Elena's thoughts drifted away as she felt a gloved hand take her own.

"Elena, I'm so happy you're alright." Seth's voice.

"She's a Turk." Reno replied with an icy tone, "Turks don't go down so easily."

Elena opened her mouth to scold Reno for being so harsh but he's right. Turks were stubborn when it came to death and this wasn't the first time she was tortured. A vivid flashback of her time in the Northern Crater made her shoulders stiffen.

"Still..." Seth doesn't let go of her hand, "You're only human."

She heard Reno snort and then her mind slipped back into unconsciousness.

&3&3&3&3

Elena blinked a few times, the fuzzy room coming into focus very slowly, and she realized that she was in one of the many medical rooms of ShinRa. "Elena."

"Oh..." Not the person she really wanted to see, "Hey Seth."

Even though she had gotten close to Seth, enjoyed laughing with him, found his open-concern for her safety heartwarming and refreshing—he was a mission. Being so human was making it difficult.

"Get some rest, 'Laney..."

"Don't."

"Huh?" She met his gray eyes, swallowing down what she wanted to say, wanted to tell him only Reno called her that. Only Reno could.

"It's nothing...forget it, I'm so tired."

"Sleep." Seth said fluffing her pillow, "Doctors say the medication might make you tired anyways."

"Yeah..." A pause. "Thanks."

He grinned an award-winning grin, "No problem."

&3&3&3&3&

The one thing about being in the medical wing is that there is no track of time. Elena woke up a few times due to nurses and a few times, she spoke with Seth, but most of the time—she slept.

Her dreams were cloudy and she couldn't recall them when she woke up.

A few hours later? (She guessed) Seth was asleep on the chair beside her bed and Elena really need a breath of fresh air.

She ran into Rude in the hallway, "Hey, where's...?" Elena didn't need to finish the rest of her question. Rude gave a small nod towards the staircase leading to the rooftop and Elena smiled a little. Of course he would go to the roof. Probably smoking. He always did like a few drags of a cigarette after a mission.

As she took the stairs, she wondered how he was, how injured, wondered if they found anymore information and wondered what he'd say. Would he tease her? Shut her out? During their short captivity, he was Reno, the same Reno...while she tried _so hard _not to show any emotion to her enemies.

&3&3&3&3&

It's raining when she reached the roof and he's leaning against some cooling device bolted into the ground. Elena relished the feeling of the cool rain against her skin, it felt marvelous and pure, even if she did hate it. Elena wrapped the thin robe around her form as she walked towards him. The robe was a dark blue and her hospital gown was white—but, the gown was covered by her robe.

Elena let out a loud sigh, "I hate the rain."

"Small talk, how unlike you." Reno grinned a bit, the cigarette dangling from his lower lip. He tossed the smoke to the ground. "I don't mind it." He shrugged. Silence enveloped them, the two Turks looking over the misty buildings of Midgar.

"So...why do ya hate it?" asked Reno, "Too depressing for ya?" He guessed. Elena shook her head, the blonde strands now damp.

"It blurs everything...distorts it...everything just blends in." Elena felt the color rise to her cheeks at telling him this. It wasn't a big secret, her dislike for the rain, but the reason behind it was. It sounded so stupid. No matter how talkative she was, Elena did like to keep some things to herself.

"Ya ever...do something awesome in the rain?"

Elena lightly punched his arm, "Pervert."

"Hey!" Reno rubbed his arm where she punched and he glowered at her. "I wasn't talking about that kind of awesome." He smirked suddenly, "Unless you wanna...?"

"NO!" Elena turned away from him, embarrassed.

"Have you ever danced in the rain?" His question caught her off guard.

"Wha..." Elena turned back to Reno, eyes wide, "Never thought you were into that mushy-stuff."

Reno rolled his eyes giving a dramatic sigh. "Oh shut up."

Elena thought the conversation would be dropped there. She thought that this was just one of Reno's little games and it would end once he got bored. Then, he held his hand out to her and Elena stared at it dumbly.

"But you're injured..." She tried to object, eyes moving the sling on his opposite arm. How could they dance anyways? Elena thought to the dulled pain of her leg. The dull pain everywhere on her body. His aquamarine eyes are surprisingly honest.

"Not as bad as you." There is guilt laced within his tone.

Elena took his hand and he moved it up to his shoulder and his good-arm went around her waist. As Elena expected, it wasn't much of a dance—just a sway back and forth. It feels wonderful. It feels childish. Elena giggled into his jacket and she felt his own chuckle reverberate through his chest.

"So unprofessional..." Elena said quietly when they stopped moving. Reno looked down at her, _if you really really wanted to...you could kiss her. Heh. She'd slap you, she hit you the first time...but oh her flustered face would be so worth it. It'd be a good way to chase away some of the tension between us._

Elena swallowed, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Her heart picked up in speed. _Medication...I'm on pain medication, that's why I'm...I'm..._

His breath ghosted over her lips.

"Ah-hem." The moment is broken, shattered, and unrepairable.

"Perfect _fucking _timing, Rude." Reno moved away from Elena, reaching into his jacket to get another smoke.

"Elena. You must get back to bed..." Rude said in a tone that was even and cool. As always.

"Right...yeah...right..." Elena mumbled, casting a look over her shoulder as she walked away. Reno was leaning against that same green-colored cooling device-thing and he was re-lighting a cigarette. That's when Elena realized something. _The rain doesn't blur Reno, doesn't make him fade into the background...must be the hair._

* * *

A/N: oh yeah, totally fluffy and cliche—I know! But, I wanted to do something a little fluffy as a bumper since the last chapter was more action.


	12. Dream Chaser

A/N: Another chapter, I'd love to see some reviews so I know you're all still alive! Or don't...whatever.

::insert winky face::

* * *

_Previously..._

"Right...yeah...right..." Elena mumbled, casting a look over her shoulder as she walked away. Reno was leaning against that same green-colored cooling device-thing and he was re-lighting a cigarette. That's when Elena realized something. _The rain doesn't blur Reno, doesn't make him fade into the background...must be the hair._

&3&3&3&

Elena blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the golden light. _I can't breathe..._

_Oh god...I can't..._

She inhaled abruptly and tears stung her eyes. "Shit." She looked around, her body was covered in a white cotton dress, and said body was surrounded by grass, trees, and other foliage. "Where..." It was unlike any other place she ever saw...green, beautiful, and bright...warm...

Elena ran her fingers over a leaf, surprised by its softness. The sky was overcast but still glowing, like the sun was setting...or rising...she couldn't tell.

Birds and other woodland creatures were scurrying about. "I have never been here in my life."

"Course not, dummy." Elena turned to see Reno, wearing his white undershirt with the first few buttons undone and his black pants.

"So...where are we?"

"Your head." He made a look as if to say 'duh.'

"Right." Elena sat back down on the grass and picked at the blades, "Why here?"

"Dunno." He paused, "We can be anywhere."

Then, Elena was _freezing_ and she was also alone again. She liked it though...the cold. She took in a big gulp of frigid air. Elena wrapped her arms around herself but found that she was warm, very warm, in fact. Reno's words of 'your head' echoed in her mind.

Okay, so this was all some elaborate drug-induced dream. Elena stared at the snow-capped mountains, the wind and small snowflakes twirling in the air. She heard snow crunching behind her and felt the fabric of a ShinRa suit brush against her arm.

She turned, expecting Reno, but seeing Rude. He said nothing.

"Hi."

He nodded.

"Why...um..." Gosh, this sounded so lame! Asking her imaginary-Turks questions that she should already know. This was her head after all! This was her drug-induced dream! Elena huffed loudly and looked back at the snowy mountains.

"Comfort, you see Reno and I as friends, and when you need us most while your body is recovering from the trauma...your mind creates us, brings us to you." Rude paused, crossing his arms, "It's a part of the healing process."

"Did you dream up anyone?"

Rude smirked a little, "You'd have to ask me."

Elena made a mental note to actually ask him, and who knew if she'd even remember any of this once she woke up. Soon, Elena was tired of the unknown mountains and the cold, cold air that she wasn't really feeling.

She was in the Turk break room with her comfortable, safe, Turk uniform and her warm cup of morning coffee on her lap. It was quiet, blissful, wonderful silence.

"God, 'Lena..." She looked up to meet Reno's bright eyes, and then her heart began to beat wildly as he leaned forward. The coffee on her lap disappeared and Elena tilted her head back, _What's going on?_

"Live a little." He teased, his lips ghosting over her neck, "It's just a dream."

_No. I am not going to fantasize about you while I'm in the freaking hospital! _

Reno looked at her with a small pout tugging at his lower lip but, he faded away. Elena let out a loud sigh—this was a dream therefore, she should _not _feel disappointed for sending him away. Not one bit.

&3&3&3&3

"Morning sleepyhead!" Seth was sitting in the same chair that he was sitting in last night.

"Hey..." Elena felt a twinge of something in her chest. Seth was here, he probably slept over night, and where was Reno? Where was Rude? Tseng? Her partners? ...her friends? She didn't expect them to be there twenty-four-seven. Elena rubbed her eyes, that was ridiculous—they had business to attend to and if Reno, Rude, or Tseng were hurt, she couldn't be expected to sit by their bed.

_Come to think of it...Seth is probably here because Tseng doesn't want to deal with him, Reno would rather bite his head off than train him, and Rude has more things to worry about—I mean—Seth is MY mission, my responsibility. _

"I was so worried, 'Laney..." Her heart clenched violently at the nickname coming out of the wrong mouth.

"Stop."

"Huh?" He frowned, stormy-gray eyes meeting her brown ones.

"I hate that nickname."

"Oh." He's embarrassed, "Sorry."

Elena leaned back into the pillows and hoped that the sleep would return to take her. She wanted to go back to the strangeness and the comfort of her dreams. Even if she couldn't fully remember them, that didn't matter, it was the feeling that mattered. The feeling of warm, safe, happy, peaceful..._healing._

"I meant it though, about being worried." Seth took off one of his gloves and Elena is alarmed at the warmth of his skin on hers. She stared at him for a long moment, attempting to read him, but finding nothing but genuine emotion of relief.

Elena looked down at his hand on hers and her mouth opens, "The scars..." they are tiny scars that are scattered on his pale skin of his knuckles and top of his hand. Elena closed her mouth and shook her head, "Sorry..."

"No, no, it's cool." He smiled and Elena wished, truly, she wished her mission was some terrible, unbearable, evil person...it would be easier to betray him. Elena pulled away her hand and placed it in her lap, not wishing anymore contact with Seth.

She closed her eyes, "Elena...I really was worried, I know Turks are all about hiding emotions...but I'm not very good at it...and I don't want to be." Elena can feel his hand on her cheek, it's so very _wrong_. She wants to slap him and tell him to back off, tell him she's no less than a monster, tell him he's wrong for trusting her and that ShinRa is using him and he needs to run, run far far away!

Elena opened her eyes, hoping that her eyes could just tell him all the disjointed thoughts in her head, but then—Seth is kissing her. His lips are dry and hers can't be any better and Elena stiffens. She can't move, she can't kiss him back, she just wants to sleep. So she shuts down, she doesn't move, doesn't even blink and he can sense that.

Seth moved away and his eyes are searching hers, Elena can't give him anything for a response.

"Goodnight, Elena." Seth moved away and left the room without another word.

Elena wiped her lips, "Shit." This has gotten a lot more complicated...or maybe not...Elena tries to imagine what Tseng would say. _Good, he's trusting you...use that...but keep him at arms length. We need him for information, but that's all Elena, you know that. You know your mission—don't let me down. Don't let the Turks down._

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena clutched her dress and let out a heart-wrenching cry. Her beautiful landscape of trees, flowers, and overcast sky is gone. A barren desert is at her feet and her dress is soiled with mud and sand. The sky is a burning orange and she can feel the heat lick at her skin.

"Reno? Reno. I need..."

"Shh...'Laney, I'm here..." Elena collapsed into his form, burying her nose into his shoulder and taking big, gulping breaths. He's here...he's here...to comfort, just as Rude said, her mind creating her support, creating her own Reno and her own Rude to be there when she needs them most. In this dream-world, she can collapse, she can be vulnerable, she can be _broken—_and that's okay.

"I can't...I can't do it..."

"Yes, yes you can..." He hugged her in a way that she'd never imagine Reno to hug her. Innocent yet firm and there's so much strength in his grip. "You're a good Turk."

Dream-Reno said words that Real-Reno would never say.

"Just...just..." Elena closed her eyes tightly and the wind is less burning against her skin.

"I've got ya."

&3&3&3&3&3&3

Reno kicked his feet up onto Tseng's desk and the raven-haired man pushed them back down. "Look at this." Tseng dropped the file into Reno's lap. It was a lot of numbers, even more charts, some graphs, and a few scribbled notes.

"How about a quick summary, yo."

"Celestial Tonic." Tseng sat down behind his desk and continued to explain, "A proto-type. ShinRa labs never finished it and..."

"And?"

"It was found in your system."

Reno shut the folder and tossed it back onto his superior's desk. "More details would be nice." As if he was going to thumb through that file. Ha! Not when he had Tseng here who could and would explain everything just to keep the mission and the investigation moving smoothly.

"A ShinRa made tranquilizer that never went past the testing stages. When you went off searching for Elena and you were knocked out…that tonic was still in your system when we saved you. It's administered by a small needle usually…a heavy dose is rarely needed…"

Reno felt his jaw slack open, "I knew it!" He jumped to his feet and began pacing Tseng's office like a caged animal.

"Knew what?"

"Vivian and Samantha. Sound familiar?"

There was a flicker of recognition in Tseng's eyes. "I remembered them from a few years ago, but I just...I thought maybe they were stealing identities or some shit...but this proves it! ShinRa technology that wasn't put past the testing means only ShinRa employees could even see these files..." Reno plopped back in the chair and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wild with uncovering some lingering truth.

"They...they're alive?" Tseng was on his feet next and he unlocked a file cabinet before pulling out two files. Reno caught glimpse of the red tags on the front, ShinRa was so damn organized. Red tag meant death on a mission, line of duty, whatever else you wanna call it. Or just, ya know, death in general.

Vivian and Samantha were ghosts of the past.

"Vivian, Turk, best noted for her excellence in the academy and skill with both a blade and human psychology." Tseng's eyes skimmed over the document with the pretty black and white picture of a woman, early twenties, eyes: blue, hair: black, "Vivian was killed on a mission Costa Del Sol. Body was never recovered but due to the state of previous injuries along with the hostile situation, there was no time for a proper search and rescue or search and recovery."

Tseng made room for a heavy pause, "Agents came to believe that Vivian fell into the water and drowned, others believe she bled out, the search and rescue mission was soon dropped and Vivian was pronounced dead on October 11."

Reno pointed to the other file, "And Samantha?"

"Samantha, Turk...main weapon...sniper."

Reno's grip on the arm of the chair tightened. That confirmed that. Samantha was the one who shot Elena but, who was aiming for him. The one who hacked into their radio connection. The one who _smiled _as she watched fellow Turks be tortured.

"Samantha was deemed emotionally unstable and unfit for the job after a mission gone wrong, she was placed under surveillance for six months...until the President deemed the task to be a waste of money. A call was made a week later that Samantha took her life by jumping from the Midgar bridge..."

Reno finished the rest of the report, "Body was never found."

When Turks needed to disappear, they did so, and they were damn good at it. Tseng rubbed his forehead, now he wondered if all that training had returned to bite them in the ass.

"They deserted the Turks...and now what? They're trying to kill us?"

"Why didn't they change their name? It's like…they want us to know that they were once Turks…" Tseng said with a frown.

"They do. It has to be a grudge thing." Reno tugged at his hair, searching desperately in his head for answers.

"A grudge? No." Tseng shook his head, meeting Reno's eyes, "This is a whole organization, Reno. It's more than just two rouge Turks." They fell silent which was eerie for both for of them. Reno usually was talking, spitting out ideas that made no sense or that made perfect sense and Tseng was using his energy to come up with his own theories It's how they worked, subordinate and superior, but still very much a team.

Tseng looked back down at the file, the smiling picture of the sniper; Samantha.

"But now we have a lead, yo."

Tseng nodded, "Yes." He stood to put away the files, "However, we can't go investigating every Turk who ever died..."

"Nah." Reno leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "But, it's something...it's personal...they fucking tortured Elena and I. It's more than wanting us dead! It's...it's..."

"There's a bigger picture here, Reno." Tseng folded his hands in front of his face as his elbows rested on his desk. "A much bigger picture and I'm afraid we aren't seeing it."

The phone rang and Tseng immediately answered.

"Okay, I'll be there." Tseng set the phone down and looked at Reno. Color was returning to the man's face but his eyes were more haunted, distressed, because every Turk was one that Reno trained. He knew Samantha and Vivian far better than Tseng did.

Thankfully, Reno was a man who could shove his past behind him and move forward.

"I have to go to a meeting."

Reno quirked an eyebrow, "You're not inviting me, are you?"

Tseng rolled his eyes, "No. I think you should get some sleep." Tseng paused as he pulled his jacket from his chair and looked at Reno once more. "They aren't Turks anymore..."

"They hurt..." Reno didn't finish his sentence, instead he changed it, "They targeted us, Tseng. Vivian and Samantha were dead to me the moment their file was closed. The women I saw the other day, they weren't the Turks I knew..."

"Do you think they're being manipulated?"

"No." Reno's tone was harsh, "Turks don't get manipulated. Vivian and Samantha are now part of something...something reckless, stupid, bloodthirsty, and they won't stop. I know they won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

Reno smirked as he stood from his chair, "Turks never give up. Ex-Turks or not. There are still some habits that are hard to break even after you've retired."

It was times like these that reminded Tseng why he appointed Reno as second-in-command.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena stared at the once snow-capped mountains that were now boiling over with lava, spitting and hissing at her, a visual representation of her inner turmoil. The sky was black and her skin was getting dark with soot. Elena couldn't move, she was frozen, watching the ash swirl in the air.

To think her brain could create such devastation and actually make it so real—that Elena could feel tears running down her cheeks.

There was the smell of gunpowder even though Elena couldn't hear any guns going off.

"Reno."

"Right here."

She turned and saw him sitting on a white, marble slab and it looked so clean against the black rock of the world. Elena sat beside him without a second thought.

"Help."

He grinned, "How?"

"I dunno." Elena closed her eyes tightly and his hand caressed her shoulder, a gentle and soft touch compared to the harsh and brutal destruction surrounding them.

"Doesn't have to be like this, yo." He said and Elena just nodded, not really listening. "It's your head...your mind...your world."

Elena looked at him, her lips turned down and a slight crease in her brow, "I deserve this."

The volcano hissed loudly and gave an echoing boom. "For what I do, for what I am, I don't deserve pretty white winter wonderlands and gardens of Gaia. I don't."

Reno faded away again and Elena was left alone—feeling worse than before but still feeling like she deserved it.

She was trying to disconnect herself from her job, this one mission with Seth, but really—it was so much harder than it sounded. Elena covered her face with her hands and a small sob rocked her body.

_Goddammit!_

&3&3&3&3

"Elena!"

She took a unpleasant gasp of air, realizing that her body was covered in cool sweat and her bangs were sticking to her forehead. The second thing to notice was that her visitor today (or night) wasn't Seth but it was Reno.

Elena touched her cheeks to find that they were dry.

"Jeez, one helluva dream, I'm guessin'."

"Yeah." He sat on the side of her bed and Elena is too tired to push him off, but the frown tells him it bothers her, and that's enough for him.

"Any news?" Elena asked as she ran both hands through her damp hair to get it out of her face. She probably looks terrible but, really she could careless at the moment. At least she is away from that twisted, terrible nightmare world.

"Yeah, Vivian and Samantha were Turks."

Elena suddenly feels like her own betrayal to Seth is going to be so insignificant—Turks betraying their company. Elena tried to imagine betraying Reno, Rude, Tseng, Rufus, and everyone else. She catches the fleeting look in Reno's eyes, the look quickly masked by humor and mischief and that 'I don't care' libertine attitude that he has.

"You knew them?"

He rolled his eyes, "Course I did! Been a Turk for a long time, Rookie."

"How long?"

Elena will blame the drugs for wanting to pry open Reno's life and peek inside. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes, _how much do I know about Rude and Reno? Or does the past not matter once you're a Turk? _

"So what did ya dream about? Was I there?"

Elena huffed and looked away, "No, you weren't."

"You sure said my name an awful lot."

Her eyes snap back to his and a heat rushes to her ears, Elena opened her mouth to say something but, words always loved to abandon her at a time like this.

"You're lying." She accused even if she knows it isn't true.

Reno tilted his head back and laughed, the jarring sound echoing in the practically empty room. "You're too easy." He poked her forehead because it's the only place he can touch without Elena wincing in pain.

His eyes looked down and saw the bruises around her wrists from the ropes. Elena watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed and Elena hastily looked away, finding the wall far more interesting than her red haired co-worker.

Reno's thumb touches the bruise so lightly that Elena isn't even sure he's touched it at all.

"You should get some sleep."

Reno chuckled again, "Come on El, you know me better than that, I'm not going home."

"El?" Elena frowned at the new nickname, it's a little better than 'Laney, that much she can admit. Addressing the nickname is easier than asking him why he isn't going home or if he's planning on staying with her...or...whatever else it is that Reno does.

"'Lena, 'Laney, Rookie, and El."

Elena can't help it, for the first time that day; she laughed.

"What?" He slid off her bed and crossed his arms, like she had just insulted him or something.

"It's just...when you say them..." Elena took a deep breath to steady herself, laughing made her ribs ache, and she doesn't want to be given anymore medication. "It makes it sound like they're all different people!"

Reno smirked, reaching out and messing with her hair, "Maybe."

Elena blinked at him.

He stretched his arms over his head, "I'll see ya 'round, 'Laney. Gonna go meet up with Rude."

Elena can already see the night ahead of him, he'll go out to Seventh Heaven or some other bar, he'll find some pretty girl, and he'll drink, he will buy drinks, and he will flirt the skirt off whatever girl he finds interesting enough to bang.

"Stay out of trouble." Elena smiled a little, setting her head back down on her pillow, and Reno tosses her a grin before leaving the room. She doesn't hear him if he responds because Elena is already back in her dream world.

She's happy to see the snowy mountains again.

-8-88-8-8-8-8

A/N: It's been exactly a month since I updated!

Sorry for the wait, dearies. I hope you enjoyed it and hey, you should review and make me smile! I really do enjoy writing this fic so I really hope you enjoy reading it as well!


	13. Cheap Wine

Long-A/N: I can't believe it's been a year since I updated. Well, not a whole year, but 8 months!

What really inspired me to update was this review I got from an anonymous person:

"_God dammit! Are you done with this? Why can't you update, instead of leaving us depressed and wanting more? Can't you see how everyone wants you to continue? Or do you just not care? Argghh!"_

At first, I was like "What kind of review is this? I feel bad now..." But then I realized how **honest **this person was being. And truth be told; I didn't think that many people were reading this story in the first place—so I thought it would be okay if I just shelved it for a while.

It's the same with my Bleach story. That one has two chapters left—I think—and I just am not inspired to write them, even though I know there are people waiting for it. I am sorry that I haven't updated and I can't make you a promise that I'll update super-soon.

Without further rambling, here's the newest chapter.

* * *

_Previously..._

Elena and Reno were captured and tortured by assailants who were once ShinRa operatives. Their names; Samantha and Vivian. Though it would seem that they are part of a force much larger and more organized than Tseng first believed.

To add to their pile of complications, it would seem that the young man Seth is harboring romantic feelings for Elena.

It's now been a few weeks, Elena's injuries are healed, and the Turks have been following cold lead after cold lead to try and track down the ex-Turks.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

Elena rubbed her forehead, her coffee gone cold in the mug beside her elbow and Rude, Reno, and Tseng were just as quiet as they scoured through old file after file. Tseng wanted to find 'what went wrong'. You know, when did the ex-Turks go bad? Turn rouge? But in all honesty, their files were squeaky clean—perfect Turks.

No discipline reports. Very few failed missions.

Reno yawned loudly and the phone on his desk rang; causing Elena to jump. "Helloooo? No. He's not here. He's busy snorting coke off a stripper's stomach." Reno smirked and passed the phone over to Tseng. Reno looked at Elena, possibly expecting some type of reaction—but she was just too damn tired to even glare at him.

"The President requires us to escort and protect him to Junon tomorrow evening." Tseng said after setting the phone down.

"Thank god! This paperwork was getting old." Reno leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. Tseng ignored him.

"In Junon, the President is celebrating a new recycling plant that ShinRa will be funding. He'll need us there as bodyguards—I expect to see all of you in the briefing room in two hours so we can look over the building plans of the mansion where the party is taking place." Tseng stood and left their office without another word.

&3&3&3&3&3

Elena smoothed her suit and adjusted the ear-piece in her ear. It wasn't often that the whole team went out on a mission like this. The three of them stood out in the parking garage, waiting for Tseng and Rufus.

"Why can't I join you?" Seth scowled and Tseng shook his head.

"Protecting the President is a job for a Turk. You're still in training, Seth." _And you will remain in training...I hope Elena has gained your trust enough for you to give her information. _

"I want to help."

"You are helping." Rufus said with ice to his tone, "By staying out of our way."

Seth huffed but was unable to argue any longer. What could he say? Take the rookie on a dangerous mission where the President's life is in your hands? Tseng watched Seth's retreating form, _I hope Elena doesn't get too attached to Seth. When this whole ordeal is over, we can't allow him to live…even if we have been giving him false information; I do not trust him at all. _

"Took you long enough," Reno looked at his watch, "You're gonna be fashionable late, Rufus."

The blonde man smirked slightly, "I always knew how to make an entrance."

&3&3&3&3&3&3

The mansion was decorated in gold and silver, men walking around carrying wine and champagne, women in elegant dresses with their hair done up and sparkling jewels (Trophy Wives – Elena thought with a small grin). Everyone was schmoozing, the sound of chattering voices creating a thrum through the large building, only dampened by the small group playing violins in the corner.

Elena took a glass of wine off one the trays for show but doesn't drink it. Reno moved about, sometimes appearing at her side, his fingertips touching her elbow and making a soft chill run up her spine. Then he would walk away and to her knowledge—he wasn't drinking anything.

It's a good hour into the party when he shows up again. "Drunk yet, lightweight?" He teased.

Elena rolled her eyes, "I'm not drinking on the job, Reno. Are you?"

He smirked, "Why? You thinking about getting me nice and drunk and then taking advantage of me?" His aquamarine eyes were dancing with amusement.

Elena snorted and pushed the glass of wine into his hand, "Drink up!" He laughed, finding her humor refreshing in such a dull environment. He always hated these political parties. The women were always married and if they weren't—then they were the daughters or sisters of some over-weight bastard who took it personally when their family had a little fun.

He downed the glass in one go and made a face, "Ugh. 'Laney! This is the cheap shit!"

Elena slapped his arm, "Keep your voice down!" She snapped with a glare—and that's when he noticed the eyeliner on her lower lid and the soft rouge to her cheeks and the glimmer of gloss on her lips. It was all so subtle, so simple, but _wow. _She lifted her hand to her ear piece and was talking to Rude a second later—completely oblivious to Reno's widened eyes.

There's a crackle inside his ear and Rude's voice appears, "I need you two to scour the floor. There's a rumor of a bomb threat. One of the cleaning staff said she saw a suspicious character in the mansion before the party started."

"We can't have one nice night, can we?" Reno snarks back.

"We're on it, Rude."

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

They worked through the crowd and made their way upstairs. Bottom floor clear—who would put a bomb on the second floor. Elena looked at the chandelier and the intricate metal twisting that wrapped around the architecture and glass roof of the building. Okay, so maybe if the bomb is here, the person placed it on a top floor so the building would collapse on itself.

As they searched, Elena was made more and more painfully aware how dangerous this place was! Look at the windows! Perfect for a sniper attack. Many people, crowded, and exits being blocked.

"Any luck?" Reno's said through the ear piece.

"None on the second floor."

"Okay, let's hit the third floor. Meet me at the stairs."

And the top floor is completely clear. Elena huffed, running her hand through her short blonde hair. Reno leaned over the railing and looked down at all the people, chatting away, drinking, unaware of the danger. Oh, he could never be that blind. They say ignorance is bliss but in his eyes; that's bullshit.

"Reno?" Elena stood beside him and there's a knit in between her eyebrows. "The basement."

And it clicks in his head what she's thinking. The mansion is sturdy enough that an explosion from the top floor would do a significant damage—but to do more damage would be to break apart the foundation. "Shit."

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

Elena has to lock pick the basement door for them to get inside. But they do and once their down the steps—on every wooden pillar supporting the mansion there is a bomb strapped to it.

"We've gotta get everyone out of here." Elena suggested immediately and she turned around, her hand on the banister to walk back up. She's about half way up when she heard Reno on his communicator.

"Rude - Tseng, it's Reno, we've got a _fucking _big problem. You need to get the President out."

"Reno! Come on!" Elena shouted, looking back at the redhead at the bottom of the stairs.

**BAM! **The basement goes dark.

Elena jumped, her head whipping around to see that the door has been shut. "You've got to be kidding me!"

There's a low buzzing noise and then a light bulb hums to life, Reno's fingers curled around the string, and his other hand still on his ear-piece. Elena huffed again and made her way up the stairs and banged on the door in a futile attempt to tell someone that they were in here. She tried the knob but it just jiggled uselessly.

"Elena, get down here! I need your help!" Reno's voice was nothing short of an order.

"How many of these do you recognize and can diffuse?"

"What?" Reno suddenly turned and faced her, his eyes flaring, because well...they didn't have time for this. Elena felt her blood run cold and she quickly scanned the bombs surrounding them. It was a mine field.

"Three."

"Out of ten." Reno cracked his knuckles, "Okay rookie, there's no room for mistakes here. Rude can give us support on the ones we don't know, but he's busy focusing on getting the President and everybody else the hell out of here."

"How many do you know?" Elena dared to ask.

"Four-ish. Bombs aren't my specialty, I never really bothered to pay attention when it comes to making or disarming them." His honestly floors her but she doesn't have time to comment.

Thankfully, Turks almost-always come prepared for anything. They have to improvise, of course, Reno is using a pocket knife to cut the wires. And Elena is using a proper pair of wire cutters. The only sounds are the shuffling of feet above them, people shouting, and the soft beeps of various bombs. They are all beeping off-key and out-of-order but they're all timed the same.

They have five minutes.

Five minutes until they turn into nothing more but ash and a pile of rubble.

Her hands shook and her heartbeat is so loud that it's downing out most of the noise. Elena focused. She makes sure her hands don't shake before she cuts a wire. And she let out a breathy-laugh of relief when the first clock freezes after cutting the green wire. It's a small victory since they have nine bombs to diffuse and they could be rigged, wired, and altered some way and they could accidentally detonate one.

Little does she know that Reno glanced at her again and again—silently checking on his Rookie and smirking slightly with pride.

* * *

A/N:

I hope the chapter was worth the wait! See you all next time!


	14. Building Bridges

A/N: Sometimes I have random inspirations to write. Man, I gotta finish this story and my Bleach one – writing is so difficult, especially with work and other responsibilities. But do note, I won't abandon anything—it may take me MONTHS to update, but it DOES happen.

Enjoy!

* * *

_Previously..._

The Turks and Rufus go to Junon for a celebration party in honor of a new recycling plant that ShinRa is funding. The evening seems calm until a bomb threat—now Reno and Elena have five minutes, five very short minutes, to diffuse ten different bombs.

&3&3&3&3&3&

The mass of bodies scrambled their way through the doors, champagne spilling and glasses shattering to the floor, voices raising and falling with orders, curses, exclamations of love and Rude's only concern was the President. They swerved around the cluster of business men and women, "Sir, I know of another exit." Rude told Rufus with a cold confidence.

They went up one level of stairs and Rude looked back at the people nearly trampling over one another to get out. Tseng, trying desperately, to keep the peace as he used the podium at the front of the main area. "Stay calm! Leave the building in an orderly manner to reduce the risk of injury."

_That podium – _Rude reflected as he led the President to another exit – _was to be where Rufus would give his speech, a new beginning, ShinRa returning to its place at the top. There is only one group who would want to explode this building and kill both the President and his Turks. They tortured my best friend and Elena—and I fear that I once called them friends as well. _

_Ruthless. _Rude kicked open a door on the west side of the mansion and its door jam splintered. _Cruel. Won't stop until they reach whatever goal they may have...far more advanced than Avalanche ever was..._

The thought of Avalanche suddenly brought Tifa into his mind. He had been so caught up in everything else that he hadn't thought of her in a while. He hadn't visited either. Truth be told, he was...afraid. A Turk – afraid?

_When you have something worth loosing, then naturally, you are even more afraid to lose it. I am not ashamed of my feelings towards Tifa, nor am I keen of her becoming aware of them, but with everything that's been happening..._

_Being with a Turk is never safe._

_But we did have our moments of peace—didn't we?_

He motioned for Rufus to follow him as he pulled open a sliding glass door. "A fire escape?" Rufus said, astonished, and Rude nodded calmly. As they made their way down the metal steps, Rude could almost feel the heat of the flames that would no doubt burst if Reno and Elena couldn't diffuse the bombs in time.

There was a group gathering a couple feet away from the mansion and Tseng's voice was still floating over the chaos. Calm like a gentle breeze during a thunderstorm. The security, personal bodyguards, and the like were urging the guests to move farther back.

Rude stopped in his tracks as the communicator crackled in his ear.

"_Rude."_

It was Elena—and she was terrified. He could hear it in her voice, trembling, unsure, reaching out for him in the darkness. Worry washed over him but he quickly pushed it away. He would be no use to them if he let his emotions get involved.

One breath; in through the nose and out through the mouth.

"Yes, Elena?"

"_I'm going to...describe it to you...I don't. I know—I think I've seen it. Maybe."_

"How many cylinders?" He responded calmly, his eyes narrowing behind his dark glasses.

"_Three." _Her voice shook.

"Wire color?" Rude asked as he walked Rufus back to the armored car, one hand on his ear piece, and the other curled into a fist. Guests, even in their fear and nervousness, backed away from the intimidating bald man and his companion with his impeccable white suit.

Rufus and Rude were quiet the pair when they were together. Rude was the silent and stoic bodyguard, well known for his hand to hand, and Rufus just oozed self-importance and a 'I can crush you with a phone call' attitude.

It was all about the way you presented yourself.

Turks would always be intimidating.

"_-R-"_

"Elena?" Rude didn't catch what she said because it was masked in static.

"_Gray. Every one." _

Rude shut the door to the car and stood outside of it, Rufus was the safest out of everyone, and they would be driving him straight back to Midgar had the President not requested to stay. "I wish to stay here and see how this pans out. I don't know why these terrorists keep thinking they can mess with ShinRa and get away with it. We'll show them."

"Elena, that would be an Echo892 – it's an older brand-"

"_Thank Jenova that Rude's older than dirt then!" _Reno's voice cut into the communicator. Rude could practically feel his friends smirk through the wire.

"It's got six wires, right?" Rude would ignore Reno's jab and get him back later.

"_Yes." _Elena answered with no hesitation.

"You need to cut the third wire down and the first wire up."

"_At the same time?"_

"Correct." Rude didn't hear anything after that, so he waited, staring at the mansion. The lights on the outside were still burning bright and a yellow-white glow was coming from the large, expansive windows. Tseng's voice had stopped speaking and soon enough, Rude saw the Wutain man walking from the mansion with a grim expression.

At least everyone was out...

Everyone except Reno and Elena, that is.

&3&3&3&&3&3&3

"Reno, c'mere, I need your help." Elena said looking at the bomb, her eyebrows knit in confusion—Rude had said the third one down and the first wire up. At the same time.

"One second."

"Like we have those to spare." She snapped and he rolled his eyes.

How could he still make jokes at Rude and smirk and just...be...Reno at a time like this? At a time when they could very-well mess up and kill themselves? Did he not feel that weight against his shoulders? Was he so immune to death, so unattached, that he simply didn't care?

Elena's heart quivered and jolted in her chest. _No._

_Reno does not want to die. He loves being alive too much—and he is just acting like himself because that is just how he IS. No amount of pressure is going to effect that._

"Yeah, yeah, I heard Rude. Keep your pants on, or don't—actually." He smirked at her, "We do have two minutes to spare and hey, I'd love to have my last minutes be _that._"

Elena felt her cheeks burn and she wanted to murder him. Yes. If they got out of this alive (which they better) she was going to murder him. "Reno!" She hissed through grit teeth, her eyes flicking back to the countdown in front of her.

"Aye, aye." And then his pocket-knife was positioned on the first wire and Elena had a moment to ask herself _why _is this man second-in-command and he doesn't come prepared for everything and anything on a mission?

"On three." Elena said, steadying her hand. They were crouched side by side, Reno's arms over her head, one hand curled delicately around his pocket-knife and the other resting against the wooden support beam. His eyes were a steely blue in concentration.

"One."

"If we fuck this up, we might die." He smirked even though he knew she couldn't see him. He counted the cylinders, wires and came to a sudden realization. The dirty-glow of the light bulb being their only light, it distorted certain things, and he couldn't blame her.

"Shut up. Two." She glared at the wires. He needed to do something. Not a lot of time—think! Elena is clumsy and emotional—he could work with that.

"I love you."

"WHAT?" Elena, in her surprise, dropped her wire-cutters. Reno cut the first wire and Elena let out a short cry of surprise before the clock on the front stopped. He let his arms fall to his sides and he looked at her, wide-eyed, hands still hovering in the air.

"There are five wires, not six. This is a phantom wire." His index finger touched the air where a wire she could have sworn was there. Her stomach dropped to her knees. "Just a shadow of the other wires."

"I..." She sputtered, embarrassment and shame filling her up like the most bitter wine and coldest rain. She could have messed it all up. All of it. "Bu-But Rude..."

"Shouldn't have led you on by asking if there were six wires. Yeah, I'll get him for that."

Elena couldn't say anything but, she was glad that he turned his back to her and they still had one bomb between the two of them. Two bombs left with a little more than a minute left. She swallowed, a heat behind her eyelids that she pushed away.

&3&3&&3&3&3&

"Reno. Elena. Come in. Reno. Elena. Do you copy?" Tseng looked at Rude and then back to the mansion. "Do you think they hacked our connection again?"

"Impossible." Rude assured him—though he wasn't so sure. They manged to plant a mine-field underneath this mansion without anyone taking notice.

"Sir." Rude gave a slight incline of his head to the mansion and Tseng immediately understood. He gave a short nod and Rude was walking away. The car's tinted window rolled down and Rufus met his eyes with Tseng's.

"Turks never abandon each other."

"What about you then?" Rufus asked with a raise of his blonde eyebrow.

"Someone needs to protect you, sir." Rufus leaned back in his leather chair and rolled the window back up.

&3&3&3&3&3&3&3

Rude felt like he was searching for a needle in a stack of needles. He shut his eyes and focused, just for a moment, because he remembers Elena and Reno talking over the communicator as they searched the building. He recalled the slight echo in their voices.

Rude opened his eyes; "Basement."

He found it soon enough—with a chair stopping the doorknob from turning. This wasn't on accident. Someone was here, someone made sure they knew about the bombs, made sure it was the Turks who knew and once they saw Elena and Reno enter—they trapped them. This was elaborate. This was planned and had to be planned for days.

It was not a threat against all the guests, business partners, and their kin.

But a trap for the Turks.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

A flood of light entered the basement, "Rude!" Elena exclaimed as the bald man hurried down the steps. He took a quick look at the bombs—deactivated from what he could see—and the last two. A sharp beep cut through the air—and Reno looked up at Rude with a smug grin.

One bomb left.

"Allow me." Rude said as he put on his gloves.

"Ohhhh show off." Reno smirked but he stepped aside. Elena felt a rush of relief. The bomb expert was here. Their friend.

"The President and Tseng are safe?"

"I wouldn't have left otherwise."

Elena bowed her head, a tiny smile on her face, as she realized that everyone was safe and they managed to keep this under control. Just her and her Turks. This thought was soon smothered by the bomb-that-almost-blew-up.

Her head snapped up at the feel of Reno's hand on her shoulder. Brown met blue. "Would it kill ya to smile? We handled this, yo." She wished his confidence was contagious. Elena shook her head and looked back at Rude as the bomb's clock went slower and slower until it stopped completely.

Rude straightened his spine and gave a rare smile to the two. He would not know what he would do if he lost them. "You wouldn't believe what I had to do in order to stop 'Laney from cutting the wrong wire..."

Elena felt her face go full flush again and she shoved away from him. "That was the worst joke ever!"

Rude raised both eyebrows and waited to be filled on the details. "You see, Rude..." He winked at Elena and proceed to fill his friend in on the details while Elena contemplated how exactly she was going to murder him. Perhaps smother him? She would need to bring a pillow to work...or...get him into a bed. Neither of those things she was going to do anytime soon. Strangulation? No. He's got long arms and she's ticklish.

"I thought she was going to stab her own eye out when she dropped the wire-cutters."

"Not funny." Elena crossed her arms, her blush having faded away after many-thoughts about how to get rid of her annoying red haired partner. Rude simply adjusted his glasses on his face and cleared his throat. He was in a rather good mood today, so he would humor them.

"I would be severely wounded if I was not the best man at the wedding, Reno."

"I'd rather marry Cloud Strife." Elena retorted quickly.

_Now that was actually funny_. Reno laughed so loudly that Elena was afraid the noise might collapse the ceiling with the way it bounced off the walls.

"I'd rather marry Tseng's left nut." Reno said when he composed himself.

Elena made a screwed up face, "Ew."

"I wouldn't marry either of you." Rude deadpanned.

By the time they made their way up the stairs, they had a rather long list of who they would rather marry then marry one another. Laughing with Rude and Reno felt a hell of a lot better than sulking or crying about her almost-failure. Turks didn't sulk and Turks didn't cry.

She would pay more attention next time and she would be grateful to have had Reno there with her. Even if his joke was _stupid_ and didn't mean anything at all and he didn't sound sincere or honest and he probably says 'I love you' to a hundred different girls if that means that he'll get them in bed.

Still, when she peeked at his profile as they made their way outside, crimson hair illuminated by the large chandelier, high cheekbones with the bright tattoos and always-amused azure eyes...Elena swallowed and thought of his lips pressed sloppily against hers that night so long ago in Tifa's bar.

"Oh jeez, El President is speechin' it up." Reno rolled his eyes, seeing Rufus standing amongst the crowd, his voice very-loud and very-powerful and apparently very motivating. People were nodding and clapping.

"Someone out there wants to hurt all of us. They want to hurt our families. They are against the positive change that we are attempting to make! We cannot stand by and let them do this!" Rufus spread his arms like he was going to give a group hug to everyone. His face was a mask of determination, a fire behind his ice blue eyes, and the crowd was eating it up.

"I ask you, my friends, my colleagues, to stand with me. This attack is just ONE of many. We have seen and dealt with terrorists before. I admit, my father's company was in the wrong so long ago. But, how dare they try and push us back! As we make so many steps forward!"

Reno yawned and Elena nudged him with her shoulder. He grinned at her.

"We search for new energy, pure and clean, we seek to fix the slums and bring Midgar to the top once more! ShinRa cannot do this alone, my friends, let us unite in one cause. Just as we were going to do tonight—unite in joyous celebration of the new recycling plant. Let us unite against these terrorists and show them that you _do not _threaten us!"

The crowd cheered.

"You do not spread innocent blood without justice!"

The rest of the speech was lost in animated chatter and cheering. Elena felt Reno's hand at her elbow a tiny gesture that it was time to go. She welcomed the expensive leather seats of ShinRa's armored car and she wanted nothing more than to go home and go to sleep.

Even if she was positive she would dream of red numbers ticking down.

&3&3&3&3&3&3&

Reno smirked at Elena seated next to him. Her blonde hair splayed out across her pale cheek, her jaw slacked slightly as her head leaned against the window and her eyes danced behind her eyelids. He knew she'd wake up hating him for letting her 'fall asleep on the job'.

"You shouldn't have said six wires." Reno looked over at his partner seated across from him.

"I know." Rude took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. He looked as tired as Elena had been. Reno, on the other hand, was still buzzing from adrenaline. He wanted to go out. He wanted to drink a little and play a little loose. This evening was far too tightly wound for his tastes.

"You miss her." It wasn't a question. Reno leaned back and draped his arms on the back of the seat. His fingertips on his right hand brushed lightly against 'Laney's hair. He had a not-so-fleeting thought if she still used that citrus shampoo. _And it's not weird that I know that. When you spend forty-plus hours with a person...you get used to certain things. She chews mint gum in the mornings before her coffee. She uses some type of citrus shampoo and her skin both smells and tastes like oranges—maybe not anymore after that incident. She could have filed me for sexual harassment, but she didn't which was cool 'cause I like being a Turk._

Rude put back on his sunglasses. "More than you know, Reno."

He wanted to talk to Reno about Elena but, he couldn't. Even with the blonde sleeping beside him he didn't know if she was actually asleep or not. On top of that, Elena hated being left out of the loop and she'd hate it even more if they were talking about her behind her back with her in the same car.

"You're so whipped and you haven't even banged her yet!" Reno chuckled and that was all that was said for a long time. Silence was easy with Rude. It was almost always comfortable as well. The two men kept to their thoughts, Rude thinking of Tifa and Reno thinking of the nearest bar.

* * *

A/N: I wanted to focus a bit more on Rude. I realize that a lot of this fic is focused on Elena, her thoughts, her reactions, and it really is about the Turks as a whole (and Reno and Elena mostly but you know it's also about the Turks or something idk talking in circles) . I hope I reached that.

Thanks for reading! Yaaay!


	15. Chasing Ghosts

A/N: Another update for you! I wanted to combine Chapter 15 and 16 – but then I realized I couldn't because I wouldn't like it. Anyways, stuff and things and stuff. Reno and Elena will reach their breaking point _very _soon, I promise. ;) Lucky number seventeen. There's your hint.

* * *

_Previously..._

The Turks managed to get the bomb threat under control and call it an evening. The next morning would only prove to be more chaotic than the previous night...

&3&3&3&3

"Seth is missing." Tseng said as they were all seated at the conference table. Elena stared at the Styrofoam cup holding the murky brown liquid of her coffee. Reno tapped his pen against his knee, restless, as always. Rude simply cleared his throat.

The conference room was hardly used by the Turks. A table long enough to fit fifteen people looked massive when only four were in the room. The water cooler bubbled in the corner and the large windows illuminated the room in the orange-glow of sunrise.

"Good riddance. Maybe he got himself killed." Reno tossed his pen onto the table.

"I should hope not." Tseng replied calm as ever.

"Maybe he's just late?" Elena suggested with a small shrug.

"The camera's have him leaving the building not even twenty minutes after you escorted the President to the event." Tseng opened a manilla folder and displayed the black and white photographs on the table. Elena sat up a little straighter and squinted at the images. They were crystal clear in quality, but she couldn't quite believe that it was Seth. Why would he leave?

"I thought you had a team keeping an eye on him." Rude crossed his arms.

"It seems he's a good enough Turk to sneak away from them."

"He's not a Turk." Reno grumbled, clearly annoyed by the notion. Tseng nodded slightly and caught Elena's expression. She was deep in thought – her eyebrows knit, eyes focused on the space in front of her, and lips pursed in a fine line.

"Tseng – sir – do you have a map of Midgar?" Elena said, her hands removing themselves from her coffee cup. Tseng arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"What? Need directions to the nearest salon, Rookie?" Reno jested, but Elena's lips didn't quiver into a smile like they would have. Reno huffed and stole her coffee – Tseng recognized the action. The redhead was constantly doing things to impress her, to get her attention, to tease her, to shove her, to comfort her – Tseng sighed and placed the folded map of Midgar on the table.

Elena snatched the pen that Reno had thrown and spread the map out, "From what we _know _and what we think we know, we can gather a handful of points and spread outward from there." She marked a spot on the map, "Here. That's where we met Seth." Elena drew a circle around the dot, "Using that spot as a radius, we can spread out from there in this direction."

Reno smirked and Tseng nodded in approval. Elena beamed at her supervisors' pleased expressions. "We also know that Seth frequented this restaurant." She made another mark – this time in another color. "Here is ShinRa HQ – seeing as his current apartment is paid for by the company and we know that exact location, we can also use this as a point of interest. So, that's four areas."

By the time the map was finished, Elena had marked four places on the map, each in various colors and each had their own search radius. "Once we sweep one area, we'll move on to the next. ShinRa and I imagine it's accompanying radius has already been searched, correct?" She looked to Tseng.

"The building itself, the parking garage, and nearby businesses have all been searched, yes."

"Damn, Rookie. You actually _learned_." Reno tossed the empty coffee cup towards the bin and fist-pumped when he got it in. Elena was humble enough to blush and it only went noticed by Rude. The silent observer.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"_You ready to turn in?" Reno asked over the phone._

"No, no...I'm going to do another sweep of the third hot-spot. He could have back-tracked."

"_Alright."_

&3&3&3&3&3&

"_Elena, where are you?"_

"I'm fine." She grumbled into the receiver as she got into the owned by ShinRa vehicle. It was a sleek design, all black, armored to stop bullets and withstand a small explosion. ShinRa technology at its finest.

"_Didn't answer my question."_

"Shut up. I know it's getting dark and I know Tseng wants us to stop – regroup – but I am **not**giving up on him." Elena started the car and pulled her seat belt on. She heard Reno's annoyed sigh.

"_Why not? He'll turn up!"_

"This is my mission, Reno!" Elena slammed her fist on the wheel in frustration, "It was my job to gain his trust. To keep an eye on him! A mission given to me by Tseng and I can't fail! I won't fail! You got that? So, if you want to turn in – fine! Fine! Go. Have a drink and I'll catch up with you later, but I'm not stopping, Reno. I'm not stopping. Okay!"

"_Jeez, calm down. You're gonna get your panties in a twist." He huffed, "I'll talk to you later."_

&3&&3&3&3&3&3&

Elena slammed the car door shut and headed down the alleyway. She checked the GPS on her phone to make sure she was on the right route. Her feet were sore, her head was aching, and she was getting her routes confused. She should have made a list to check off and cross-check her locations.

Elena stepped from the alleyway into an open market-place, but the vendors had already started packing away their wares. Seth was known to come here to get supplies. ShinRa knew about this place, it wasn't on 'black market' level, but not everything that was sold was legal.

"Elena." A smooth, yet icy voice said from behind the blonde.

She turned and met the green eyes of her sister; Rosalind.

"You." Elena grabbed the gun holster at her hip but Rosalind was a step ahead of her and already had her weapon drawn.

"What a greeting." Her sister smiled cruelly. That's when Elena noticed that her sister had cut her hair again, back to it being short and straight, and she was clothed in a black suit with a red tie. Elena knew the suit. Her mind recoiled violently into a flashback when she and Reno were tortured.

"My, my, are you sick? Your face has gone all pale." Rosalind clicked the safety off her gun.

"Rosalind – why? Why are you doing this? Why are you on their side?" Elena was desperate for answers. For anything. Why was this terrorist group after ShinRa? Why the Turks? Where was Seth? Why didn't they kill Reno and herself when they had the chance?

"Sides?" Rosalind snapped back, "Don't be such a child! This isn't about sides!"

Elena drew her gun and pointed it at her sister – her own flesh and blood. If anyone asked, Elena would tell them that she would shoot her own sister in a heartbeat if she had to. This was a lie. She may hate Rosalind – hate her for being perfect, for being better, for putting her down at any and every chance, for leaving a broken family for Elena to try and fix.

Things were never the same after Rosalind faked her death to resign from the Turks.

Their father retired from military training and spent his days in Icicle. Last Elena had heard, the man was slowly loosing his mind. _And that's Rosalind's fault. He loved her – she was his favorite. His perfect, older daughter. _

Even with this hate boiling under Elena's veins, she could not will herself to pull the trigger.

"I thought so." Rosalind gave her sister a light smirk. "Tell me, dear sister, did you spread your legs and earn yourself a promotion? Has all the courage been sucked from your soul due to a lover's kiss?"

Elena felt her face go hot. She fired – but aimed to miss and her sister took off running. It was a trap. Elena could feel it in her bones – but it didn't stop her from chasing after Rosalind. Her sister whipped around and fired – the bullet missing and hitting the side of a gray building. The shot echoed. Elena reached into her pocket and pressed the Ice materia into her palm.

Her sister ducked into an alleyway and Elena followed. Another shot. Another miss. Rosalind stopped and Elena saw her opening – she clenched her fist and then released it, a gust of icy-wind knocked her sister back a few paces. "Materia." She heard Rosalind mutter with distaste. Her sister always thought materia was a weak way out of a fight.

Elena rushed forward, her knee connecting with her sister's sternum. Rosalind gasped and staggered before quickly composing herself and launching a right hook. It caught Elena's jaw and she stumbled. The metallic tang hitting her mouth as her lip cut open.

Elena used another blast of ice at Rosalind – this time a more concentrated attack and it froze her sister's legs to the ground. Rosalind growled and fired her gun in the air; three times. A signal. Elena steadied her weapon, pointing her gun at her sister, aiming right in between her eyes.

"Go on." Rosalind scoffed, "Shoot me."

Elena narrowed her eyes – but then she saw her sister's expression change.

And she was too slow to react.

A purple flume of smoke surrounded her and her estranged sibling. Elena coughed but, inhaled the toxic smoke on reflex. She watched through bleary eyes as her sister was released from the ice trap and ran off. Elena could vaguely hear voice's but her mind was too befuddled to comprehend anything.

_Confusion..._She gasped, coughed, and then forced her feet to move away from the spell. Her knees wobbled and her head swam. One foot in front of the other. One more. Just one more step. Good, one more. One more.

Elena coughed as her lungs sought greedily for some fresh air. She broke away from the noxious gas and leaned against a garbage can. Tears streamed down her face and her eyes burned. But – she was alive. They could have killed her again. Could have. But still didn't.

When the smoke cleared and Elena could think properly – she almost went after Rosalind again. She could follow her sister's trail. She could.

_No. No. I can't waste time chasing ghosts. I have to find Seth._

&3&3&3&3&3&3

"She should be back by now." Tseng said, aggravation lacing his tone. Aggravation and worry.

"We'll go look for her." Reno stood from his chair just as the door to the Turk briefing room opened. And in walked the man they had been searching for. "You little mother fu-!"

"Reno." Tseng cut him off. "Seth, where have you been?"

"I got a tip – it's important." He was holding a folded piece of paper in his hand. "It's about the next attack."

"We need Elena here." Reno quickly protested. "She's still out searching for your stupid ass."

"Reno – Rude – Call her. Tell her to get here ASAP." Tseng looked at Seth, his expression stern and serious, "I need to have a conversation with Seth."

The two Turks took that as their cue to get out of the room and quickly. Tseng had a cold temper. He wouldn't shout or yell – he'd speak quietly and do a lot of glaring. Enough to make your bowels turn to water.

&3&3&3&&3&

"Elena." Rude acknowledged the blonde woman as she walked into ShinRA corp. Besides looking a little worse for the wear – she was unharmed. Her right hand was covered in frost from using ice materia, but that would fade once she removed the materia. He didn't have to ask if she got into a fight. He could see it all over her face.

And it was one of the rare times that Reno could see it too.

The redhead stepped forward, his body angled over hers in a forward slouch. Rude watched, unblinking, as Elena looked up at him with a subdued scowl on her face. She had grown use to his lack of personal space. Enjoyed it, even.

"What?"

He smirked, "Want me to check for injuries? I can be very...thorough."

She slammed her foot down on his, growling "Pervert" as she stalked past and led the way back to the briefing room. Rude shook his head slightly. Would Reno ever learn? Innuendos would never win Elena over. They only proved to annoy her.

"Aw, come on 'Laney!"

_Pulling on pigtails at the playground. _Rude sighed. _I should be hired for a babysitter when these two are together. _

He would call their sexual tension a distraction and he hoped, for the sake of the Turks, that they would hurry up, get drunk, and sleep with each other soon.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Year! (well – for some. I've got 4 more hours )

Feedback would be greatly appreciated ~ and like I said – number 17 ! Chapter 17 is going to be really, really great.


	16. Wutian Hospitality

A/N: What is this witchcraft?! So, after MONTHS of moving, school, work, relationships, and other bullshit and other fandoms and tumblr coming into my life. I finally sat down and told myself that I couldn't leave this thing unfinished. I just couldn't. Not just for the people who are reading it (wherever you may be) but for myself.

Because I have a 34 page document of an outline, with ideas, and quotes and _fuck. _I am not giving this up. I'm not. This fic is reaching it's 3 year anniversary. Yup. And it's going to be finished.

[No Beta. All mistakes are my own.]

* * *

_Previously..._

Elena and her sister, Rosalind, had a close encounter but, that is the least of their worries. Seth, returning from falling off ShinRa's radar, informs the team that the next attack is soon and it's going to hit home.

&3&3&3&3&3&

"Seth came bumbling in, Tseng is giving him 'the Talk', and not the good one." Reno informed her as they made their way to the conference room. Elena couldn't hide her small look of relief when she heard that Seth was safe. Their informant. Her mission.

She hadn't failed. _Yet. _A small voice reminded her.

To be fair, Seth hadn't delivered any concrete information – nothing to bring them any closer to taking out whoever was after them. She rubbed her forehead, feeling a stress-headache pressing itself against her skull. _There was that building he told us about..._

Elena absentmindedly touched her collarbone, a few inches from the scar from her 'love-letter' bullet wound she received that day. _But, Seth couldn't have known it was a trap. He just knew it was a building that Allen went to..._Paranoia settled in her chest and Elena felt jittery as they entered into the conference room. Tseng and Seth were silent – Seth looked like a scolded puppy.

Tseng had spoken to the man, warned him about not following protocol, about how delicate his situation was being a Turk in training - "I can't afford to have mistakes on my team. Mistakes mean life or death and your little disappearing act was one that both showed carelessness to this team and a lack of respect."

The raven haired man stood from his seat, wordlessly, and pressed a button on a tiny remote in his left hand. The room darkened slightly and a holographic map appeared at the center of the table, all the Turks knew this map, it was Wutai.

"We found our next target."

Tseng continued with his explanation, "Seth received a tip while doing some non-issued surveillance in Midgar."

"Don't tell me our lead is gossip-fueled." Reno said, quietly, but giving a pointed look at Seth.

"If you want the details of the information, Reno, I suggest you look over that file in front of you." Elena took that as her cue that it was safe to read the file while Tseng was talking about the mission plan. It seemed that Seth, aside from his work for the Turks, had been going to what he called 'hot-spots'. He was able to go without his uniform and blend in rather easily, especially since he's been to the places a few times before.

His report noted that people were acting rather anxious and Wutai was being brought up more and more often. He reported that his informant, who would remain classified at this time, told him that something big was being planned. Something to knock ShinRa back – universal hatred was a battle that not even the great President could fight.

Elena thought of the party in Junon.

She thought of all the progress being made and her fingers tightened around the paper.

"Elena and I will be going through the village, North to South, while Rude and Reno take the East to West." Tseng glanced over at Seth and motioned with a vague gesture of his hand that it was time for the Turk-in-Training to leave.

"We are on limited time and must leave immediately."

"What's the threat?!" Elena blurted out, having finished reading the file.

"They – whoever _they _are – are going to destroy Wutai and have ShinRa take the fall for it."

"And Seth got that from his little classified informant?" Reno spoke up again, and Elena couldn't mask her surprise when she realized that he actually read the report.

Tseng shook his head, "No. I got that from my informant in Wutai. He said he's been seeing a lot of men and women in suits, acting shady, moving around merchandise. ShinRa logos – so he thought it was just another energy building, didn't pay it any mind – until I called him today..." Tseng sighed, shaking his head, a slight concern in his eyes for the friend back home. If they find him out, if they find out that the Turks are on their way, they might blow the place up before they even arrive. "My informant did some surveillance of his own and said there's enough bang to remove Wutai from the map and leave a crater."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go be the good guys - again." Reno smirked, kicking his feet off the table.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

Elena took the co-pilot seat with Tseng, something that would have sent her heart into overdrive a lifetime ago, but now her heart only raced with the pre-mission anxiety. She flipped a few switches, adjusting her headset, and giving Tseng a small nod.

"_We should have radios that play us a theme song." Reno's voice crackled over the headset, a chuckle lacing with his words._

"_..."_

"_I swear to god, Rude – if you say our theme song should be 'Men in Black' – I will shoot you." _

Tseng rolled his eyes, muttering; "Children", as the helicopter lifted from the platform and ascended into the thick, Midgar clouds.

"We are looking for suspicious activity, unauthorized ShinRa merchandise, and if any of you see Vivian or Samantha – it's a code 752 and you are authorized to use force in order to subdue them. Don't kill them, they're only leads to the organization behind this."

Elena glanced at Tseng and felt _honored _to have him as their leader. It would be nice to be working on the field with him – they always made an effeciant team.

&3&3&3&3&3

It was the size of Wutai that never failed to stun Elena. _How will we cover this much ground? Just the four of us? _Elena checked her equipment as they landed, to be prepared was to stay alive, and she and Tseng took off down the north road. They started with obvious places, large warehouses, shops, and heavily populated areas.

"Anything?"

"Nope." Elena said upon meeting with Tseng in the square.

The Turk leader contacted Reno and Rude through the comm-link, "Anything?"

"_Negative." Rude responded._

"Sir, it could be a red-herring..." Elena hated to admit it, but it was possible for it to be an empty chase. Yet, as those words tumbled from her mouth, Elena saw someone wearing a black suit and a red undershirt. She knew that uniform - "Tseng!" the Rookie was on her feet in seconds, with Tseng following close behind.

Whoever this was, they weren't very good at shaking someone from their tail.

They had them cornered in an alley within minutes, the man staring down the barrels of two guns.

"Drop any of your weapons and get on your knees." Tseng instructed, voice calm and collected. He was of stocky build with a tattoo of a spider on his neck, his features thin and drawn out, eyes slanted with contempt boiling inside.

"Don't be silly, I'm just an extra." The man clapped his hands – just once – **BANG!** A bullet was between the man's eyes and he was on the ground within seconds.

"Elena!" Tseng spun around and she followed his lead, just as they were ambushed by men and women wearing the same uniform. Black and red. Red and black. It's all she could see – all she could feel, blood rushing, gushing, and pumping – shouting, screaming, guns firing and bones cracking.

Ice materia had layered her hand in a thin frost, a bite that burned when she hit her attackers. Her and Tseng's fighting styles were similar, but they were vastly outnumbered. Every person she took down, two seemed to sprout in their place.

She heard the click of a tongue hitting their teeth and everything...slowed. Her heartbeat hammered in her ears, Tseng was fighting a few feet away, but she saw the glint – the laser sight of a sniper. "_TSENG!" _Her scream was sharp, but it echoed with the blast of a bullet.

The blood arched in the air, spraying like a terrible, red fountain. It coated the white undershirt of Tseng's suit into a deep crimson color. His eyes were wide open as he fell, gracelessly, onto a heap of dirt and blood.

Elena fought her way to him, hearing Reno and Rude running up behind her and taking down the last of them, but she wasn't really paying attention. Her eyes were focused on the blood steadily pooling around Tseng. She needed to reach him. She needed to reach him. It'd be okay! It'd be okay! Once she got to him, it'd be fine...

"They're falling back." Rude noted, his eyes following the blonde as she dropped to her knees next to a body – one that he really did not wish to identify.

"Tseng? Tseng. Can you hear me? Hey, hey, we're gonna get you help – okay?!" Elena was rambling as she rolled her superior onto his back and stared at his lifeless, dark eyes. She placed both her hands over the bullet wound – cut right through the heart – and applied pressure. "Tseng, it's nothing. We've all had worse, right?"

Unblinking, glassy eyes stared up at the bright blue sky.

"Elena..." Rude's voice was soft and he placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling it tremble beneath his glove.

"NO!" Elena bowed her head, forehead touching the sticky, warm wetness of his chest. Reno stood by, a silent guardian to everything that was unfolding before him, watching as Elena fruitlessly attempted CPR and trembled – not allowing herself to cry. His blue eyes flickered up to Rude, who was quiet, hand still on her shoulder, waiting to call it in – waiting to go back.

"_You're a smart kid..." Tseng said, folding his hands across the desk. "I'm giving you a chance, here, Reno."_

"_It's be a Turk or die in the slums. Whaddya think I'm gonna choose?!" Reno snapped, all bones and rough attitude, his cheekbones without their tattoos and his hair short, red, and spiky. "I have a request, yo."_

_Tseng lifted one slim eyebrow._

"_My friend Rude, he gets to be a Turk too." Reno bit his lower lip, "He's good – with bombs and stuff. A real natural. So – you let us both in to your secret club – or you don't get either of us." Reno smirked, barely eighteen, and already calling the shots. _

_Tseng gave a nod, "I see."_

_Rude and Reno were inseparable. They were brothers, with no real blood between them, just years of bullshit and having eachother's backs. Tseng couldn't deny that they worked well together and even flourished under the training and schooling that ShinRa provided. _

&3&3&3&3

"I'm going to kill her." Elena whispered to Tseng, her hand lifting up and closing his eyes, the blood smudging on his pale skin.

She doesn't remember standing, or getting into the helicopter, or washing her suit of the blood. It's like the world was moving without her being present. Elena sat up a little straighter, trying to focus on the President, and the other men in the room.

Bullet to the heart.

_It's all my fault._

Dead before he hit the ground.

_This can't be happening…_

Killed by a sniper named; Samantha – an Ex-Turk.

_I feel like throwing up…_

Elena ran out of the debriefing room with Reno calling behind her. She hunched over a trashcan. Her stomach muscles tightening violently and a guttural _bleh, _going through the motions of vomiting over and over again. In between gags and coughs, she sucked in as much air as she could.

_I should have known it was a trap…_

_I am such an idiot…_

_I should be dead, not Tseng. Keep the Turks alive? The Turks are dead without you…!_

Styrofoam cups were splattered and the young blonde heaved violently until she was positive nothing was left…unless she was going to start throwing up internal organs.

She lifted her head, her hands shaking on the rim of the trashcan.

Someone pressed a napkin to her lips and Elena glanced down at the hand, Reno's, of course. She could tell from the long fingers and pale complexion. She stood up straight and wiped her mouth before tossing the napkin into the trash.

"I'm so sorry." Elena's knees buckled but Reno caught her, she hid her face in his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry!" Her cry was muffled into the fabric of his jacket as her arms tightly wrapped around him. She was shaking and screaming and crying and god, Elena couldn't recall a more unprofessional moment in her life.

Reno shifted and he picked Elena up, one arm under the bend of her knees. He opened the nearest door, thankful for an empty office, and then shut the door with this foot. She was still sobbing into his jacket and was whispering the words "I'm so sorry…" over and over again.

Reno sat down on the carpeted office with his back pressed against the door. Elena was clinging to him like he'd disappear if she let go. (Which, like hell he was going to do that, she needed him.)

Elena's sobs came and went, sometimes she was loud and other times she was soft. Reno just sat there with one arm hooked around her waist. For the first time in his life, he didn't _want _this to be anything more than comfort. He didn't _want _to manipulate her grief to get into her pants.

"Why'd…you…" A hiccup stopped the rest of her sentence. She didn't look up, she kept her bloodshot eyes focused on the file cabinet in the corner of the room.

"I didn't think you wanted to stand in the hallway and cry…"He shrugged, trying to make his statement seem nonchalant. Reno caught the look Rude had given him when he bolted out of the room after Elena. It was a look of understanding – that's what was so confusing. What did Rude know that he didn't?

Elena drew in a slow, shallow breath, in hopes to calm herself down_…you know how I feel about professionalism, but you don't relate, you just understand. I know it sounds silly…maybe I should just stop thinking about it._

"Thanks." She muttered and closed her eyes, exhausted from crying for god knows how long. Her head hurt, her eyes were over-saturated, and Reno's jacket was damp with her tears. She felt his other arm move and wrap around her waist, keeping her there—not that she wanted to move. His chin rested on the top of her head.

"Don't mention it."

Reno was lanky, all limbs – really, but he was warm. Reno didn't know how to handle his grief, he figured he was in shock. His mind kept whirling as to _how _this could have happened, how could just one bullet take out Tseng?! The redhead sighed, leaning his head back onto the door with a soft 'thump'.

&3&3&3&3&3&

"Rude." It's Tifa's only word as she sees the man entire, his lips pulled into a frown and he gives a small nod to the back room. Cloud's old room – now turned into a storage space. "Barret, watch the bar."

The Turk fell to his knees once in the cover of the room, "Tseng is dead."

"Oh...Oh, Rude." Tifa crouched down and enveloped him, letting his weight lean into her, and squeezing hard – reminding him that she was here. Rude closed his eyes tightly, his head swimming with old memories and conversations.

Tifa had long since forgiven the Turks for the part they played all those years ago. Rude had transformed from a sunglasses wearing stranger into a friend. She could rely on him and looked forward to the three Turks drinking at her bar. Tifa leaned away and pulled the sunglasses off his face, her eyes locking onto his, the distress in them would have brought her to her knees if she wasn't on the floor already.

Tifa reached her hands up, cupping his face and letting her thumbs drag along the bags under his eyes, "I'm here for you."

"I know." Rude sighed quietly, enjoying the touch, the feel of her hands on his face. They had only hugged once or twice before, an awkward stumbling kiss in the dark, a hand brushing another – but, Rude was too shy to go any further. He wouldn't. Not now, not while his world was falling apart and she had Marlene and Denzel to care for and her business.

"Thank you."

It was her smile that reminded Rude that there still something _good _in the world.

&3&3&3&3&3&3

Reno stepped out of the office, leaving Elena to try and fix her hair because she refused to leave the office looking like a "chocobo-head".

"Hey, Reno!" A vein pulsed on his forehead. The last fucking voice he wanted to hear today! Reno spun around, all unbridled rage and pent-up frustration coiled up and ready to spill out onto to Seth like a motherfucking volcano.

"We lost a good man today, I know." Seth said, sounding like he was reading the words off paper.

"You don't know shit!" Reno snapped, his jaw clenching and eyes narrowed – his body tense like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. "This is an order, stay the fuck away from all of us! You're not a Turk!"

Seth's jaw unhinged slightly, but he recovered quickly and went for the jugular. "Just because Tseng is dead, you can't make calls like that!"

"THE HELL I CAN'T!" They were toe to toe and someone was going to throw a punch. It was just a matter of when.

"I was second-in-command!"

"AND FOR ALL WE KNOW, YOU LET TSENG DIE TO USURP HIS POSITION!"

_**CRACK!**_

Seth went sprawling onto the linoleum, an angry red mark on his jaw, and Reno was standing with his arms at his sides – with how fast he moved, Seth wasn't sure if he hit him at all. "You got your orders." Reno said – his voice the perfect imitation of Tseng's; calm, collected, and without any room for argument.

Rude

**Subject; **Drinks?

(Message received)

"God, I thought he'd never fuckin' ask." Reno groaned, forwarding the message to Elena and adding; _'We can have a toast to Tseng'. _

Her reply came a few minutes later, a solitary 'ok'.

Reno rubbed his face, sighing and leaning against the elevator, and he could feel a slight stinging pain in his knuckles. Alcohol would numb that pain...along with others.

* * *

A/N: Some people might wonder how Elena heard Samantha – with all the craziness going on and imagining that she's probably somewhere high up. And to that I say – LOLRealism! - but, truthfully, it was probably someone else in the crowd, or maybe it was a click of a gun, or a snap of a bone, and it was just a trigger for her to see the sniper.

Ijfdlfjskl. I had such a hard time writing Rude/Reno reactions because I just DIDN'T KNOW how they would react. So, I chose anger/denial for Reno, sadness/blame for Elena, and a quiet grief for Rude.


	17. Please Read Author's Note

_**Important Note: ! [Please Read] **_

This chapter will not be posted to due to its **MATURE CONTEN**T and furthermore;  I will no longer be uploading the chapters to fanfiction!

The website has banned M-rated content (and as I've heard, is clearing out those M-Rated stories and this fic will have a lot of smut) so I am moving the story to AO3 also known as ; archiveofourown ! (dot org)

It's under the same title if you want to search for it, if you can't find it, _**please, please, please**_ message me or leave it in a review and I can send you the link.

I'll also be putting the link to my AO3 Account on my profile page.

Thank you so much for your continued support! And I hope to see you over on the new site! :)

Chapter 17 will be posted there on November 20-21st!

HAPPY READING


End file.
